Definition of "initiator"

initiator

noun
plural initiators
1. One who initiates.
2. (chemistry) A substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization.
3. (military) A component of a nuclear weapon that produces a burst of neutrons to trigger a fission chain reaction.
  Quotations
  ‘This, er, initiator of polonium and lithium, would it be used in an anti-personnel bomb?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes, you could say so, boyo,’ replied the Welshman. ‘An initiator, you see, is what sets off a nuke.’
  1984, Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol, London: Hutchinson, page 301
4. (computing) A task (in a mainframe computer) that initiates multiple jobs.
5. (medicine) A material whose presence in the body eventually leads to cancer.

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