checker

checker

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtʃɛkə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛkɚ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛkə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

    From check + -er.

    Noun

    checker (plural checkers)

    1. One who or that which checks or verifies something.
      • 1992, Neil J. Salkind, Applying Macintosh: Solutions, Ideas, and Tools, Macmillan Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 205:
        So, keep in mind that Microsoft Word’s Spelling tool is as much a “typo” tool as a checker of spelling.
    2. One who makes a check mark.
      • 1989, M. Manfred Fabritius, William Borges, Saving the Savings and Loan:
        "Essentially," said a senior vice president of the FHLBB of Dallas, "we were checkers of boxes."
    3. The clerk who tallies cost of purchases and accepts payment.
      There was a long line at the grocery store because the checker was so slow.
      • 1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press:
        Bud Brown said something to the checker he was supervising; she had been craning around to see what was happening. She flushed and began to run her calculator again.
    4. One who hinders or stops something.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English cheker, aphetic from Anglo-Norman escheker (chessboard), from Latin scaccarium, thus ultimately morpheme-for-morpheme cognate to etymology 1.

    Noun

    checker (plural checkers)

    1. A playing piece in the game of checkers (British: draughts), or certain other table games such as backgammon.
    2. A pattern of alternating colours as on a chessboard.
    3. An individual square appearing in such a pattern.
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Verb

    checker (third-person singular simple present checkers, present participle checkering, simple past and past participle checkered)

    1. (transitive) To mark in a pattern of alternating light and dark positions, like a checkerboard.
    2. (intransitive) To develop markings in a pattern of alternating light and dark positions, like a checkerboard.

    Etymology 3

    Alteration of chequer.

    Noun

    checker (plural checkers)

    1. The fruit of the wild service tree or chequer tree, Photinia villosa, syn. Sorbus terminalis
    Usage notes
    • Almost always spelled chequer, because the tree itself is native to areas where that spelling is used, and is pretty much unknown in areas that use the other spelling.
    Derived terms

    Anagrams

    French

    Etymology

    From English to check.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    checker

    1. to check, verify
    2. (reflexive, reciprocal, slang) to bump fists

    Conjugation

    Synonyms