Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

symbol pusher

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.91 in modern English

Syllables: sym-bol- -push-er
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

5

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Someone who engages in symbol pushing; someone solving mathematical problems by manipulating symbols (as in algebra) rather than through visual or intuitive understanding.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

"That is to say, in both cases we have in mind an intended model or structure for our theory. We are not in the position of mere "symbol pushers.""
"[…] it is clear that the symbol pusher does not understand Chinese at all; he is only following meaningless instructions. Because computer models, particularly of the symbolic variety, are merely manipulating symbols, and hence understand nothing about what they are doing, they are poor models."
"While known today as a theoretician, Einstein was not just a symbol pusher; the physics of D appears in much detail in his papers on Brownian motion."

Etymology

From symbol pushing + -er.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: symbol pushing

Usage

Derogatory

Inflected Forms

symbol pushers (plural)

Questions

What does symbol pusher mean?: Someone who engages in symbol pushing; someone solving mathematical problems by manipulating symbols (as in algebra) rather than through visual or intuitive understanding.
Where does symbol pusher come from?: From symbol pushing + -er.

How to pronounce symbol pusher

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