receiver

plural receivers

1. A person who receives.
   1. historicalAn official whose job is to receive taxes or other monies; a tax collector, a treasurer.First known use 14th c.
   2. A person who receives something in a general sense; a recipient.First known use 14th c.

      I, the writer of this paper, have been, for some time, a chosen receiver of Begging Letters.

      1850, Charles Dickens, “The Begging-Letter Writer”, in Household Words

   3. A person who accepts stolen goods.First known use 14th c.
   4. A person or company appointed to settle the affairs of an insolvent entity.First known use 18th c.

      It took the name Midland & South Western Junction in 1884 and reached Cheltenham, with its M.R. connection, in 1891; but poverty continued - a receiver had been appointed in 1884.

      1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 585

      1 more example

      This was the West Lancashire Railway, an ambitious but feckless little concern which, in a life lasting a quarter of a century, never earned a dividend, failed to keep up its debenture payments (despite a dangerous attempt to do so by issuing more debentures) and ended up in the hands of a receiver.

      1960 March 28, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Preston—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 201

      Synonyms: insolvency administrator, insolvency practitioner, liquidator, administrator, court administrator, trustee in bankruptcy

   5. American footballAn offensive player who catches the ball after it has been passed.First known use 19th c.
   6. ball gamesA person who attempts to return the serve.First known use 20th c.
2. An item or apparatus that receives.
   1. Something which receives some substance or object, in a general sense; a receptacle.First known use 14th c.
   2. chemistryA vessel for receiving and holding the products of distillation, or for containing gases.First known use 16th c.
   3. historicalAn airtight vessel from which air is pumped in order to form a vacuum.First known use 17th c.

      A man can live in thick air, but perishes in an exhausted receiver.

      1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 839

   4. engineeringThe part of a firearm containing the action.First known use 19th c.
   5. historicalA vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder before it enters the low-pressure cylinder, in a compound steam engine.First known use 19th c.
   6. Any of several electronic devices that receive electromagnetic waves, or signals transmitted as such.First known use 19th c.

      The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.

      1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)

      Antonyms: transmitter

   7. The part of a telephone handset contained in the earpiece; (hence) the handset itself; an earpiece.First known use 19th c.

      There they waited until after eleven, then Paulvitch took down the receiver of their telephone. He called a number.

      1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Plot That Failed”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 60

   8. businessA swaption which gives its holder the option to enter into a swap in which they pay the floating leg and receive the fixed leg.