2. (Law) A person appointed, ordinarily by a court, to
receive, and hold in trust, money or other property which
is the subject of litigation, pending the suit; a person
appointed to take charge of the estate and effects of a
corporation, and to do other acts necessary to winding up
its affairs, in certain cases. --Bouvier.
3. One who takes or buys stolen goods from a thief, knowing
them to be stolen. --Blackstone.
4. (Chem.)
(a) A vessel connected with an alembic, a retort, or the
like, for receiving and condensing the product of
distillation.
(b) A vessel for receiving and containing gases.
5. (Pneumatics) The glass vessel in which the vacuum is
produced, and the objects of experiment are put, in
experiments with an air pump. Cf. {Bell jar}, and see
Illust. of {Air pump}.
6. (Steam Engine)
(a) A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the
high-pressure cylinder before it enters the
low-pressure cylinder, in a compound engine.
(b) A capacious vessel for receiving steam from a distant
boiler, and supplying it dry to an engine.
7. That portion of a telephonic apparatus, or similar system,
at which the message is received and made audible; --
opposed to transmitter.
{Exhausted receiver} (Physics), a receiver, as that used with
the air pump, from which the air has been withdrawn; a
vessel the interior of which is a more or less complete
vacuum.