governor
Americannoun
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the executive head of a state in the U.S.
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a person charged with the direction or control of an institution, society, etc..
the governors of a bank; the governor of a prison.
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Also called governor general. the representative of the crown, as in the Commonwealth of Nations.
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a ruler or chief magistrate appointed to govern a province, town, fort, or the like.
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Machinery. a device for maintaining uniform speed regardless of changes of load, as by regulating the supply of fuel or working fluid.
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British Informal.
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one's father.
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one's employer.
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any man of superior rank or status.
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noun
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a person who governs
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the ruler or chief magistrate of a colony, province, etc
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the representative of the Crown in a British colony
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the senior administrator or head of a society, prison, etc
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the chief executive of any state in the US
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a device that controls the speed of an engine, esp by regulating the supply of fuel, etc, either to limit the maximum speed or to maintain a constant speed
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Also called: head. grammar
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a word in a phrase or clause that is the principal item and gives the function of the whole, as hat in the big red hat
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( as modifier )
a governor noun
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informal a name or title of respect for a father, employer, etc
Pronunciation
In governor, the process of dissimilation—the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike or for one of them to disappear entirely—commonly results in the loss of the first of , producing the pronunciation . This pronunciation is heard even in regions where postvocalic is not usually dropped. A further loss, of the medial unstressed vowel, results in . All three pronunciations are standard. See colonel, February, library.
Other Word Forms
- subgovernor noun
- undergovernor noun
Etymology
Origin of governor
1250–1300; Middle English governour < Old French governeor, gouverneur < Latin gubernātōrem, accusative of gubernātor, equivalent to gubernā(re) to steer, govern + -tor -tor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“This outcome could cause hardship for many workers and their families,” said Lisa Cook, a governor on the Federal Reserve Board.
From MarketWatch
"Most meetings by now are organised by me except mayors and governors," he wrote.
From BBC
Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran said he thinks the Fed needs to cut interest rates by about a percentage point this year in a Fox Business interview Thursday.
Intervention by the governor and community mediation efforts restored a fragile peace to the area, but the instigators of the violence remain at large.
From Barron's
Other factors that could support a falling yen include higher Japanese growth and potentially less political pressure on the Bank of Japan’s governor now that the board-member nominations are done.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
