direction finder
- noun
- Specialized
- - Either this detector's gone haywire, or Dirkin's discovered the direction finder and ditched it.
Examples
-
Are you sure he didn't slip you a concealed direction finder?
-
He stared down at his direction finder.
Fiction book (1991) -
Drive out to the radio direction finder and report back to me.
-
Those masts are their radio direction finders?
-
There's a direction finder in that package he took with him.
-
The pilot used a direction finder to navigate safely through the stormy weather.
-
On the sailing trip, we relied on the direction finder to keep us on course.
-
The ship's direction finder indicated that the radio signal was coming from the nearby lighthouse.
Synonyms
A tool that shows you direction or position to help you find your way, for example a compass
A device that shows direction by receiving radio signals
A tool that finds the direction of incoming radio signals
How Directional
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'direction' (a heading) combined with 'finder' (one/thing that finds) yields a device that finds or determines direction. This noun–noun formation follows a common, cross-linguistically familiar pattern for instruments, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Direction finder is a device that literally 'finds' the direction of a radio signal. Imagine a needle or arrow; the finder points toward the signal's source, so the device tells you where the signal comes from and helps with navigation or tracking.