Computers refers to a person employed to perform computations; one who computes. It commonly describes a programmable electronic device that performs mathematical calculations and logical operations, especially one that can process, store and retrieve large amounts of data very quickly; now especially, a small one for personal or home use employed for manipulating text or graphics, accessing the Internet, or playing games or media and (by restriction) A male computer, where the female computer is called a computress, which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Taken together, these meanings present Computers as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Computers therefore works well as a quotation category because it can hold direct statements about the subject, figurative uses that borrow its meaning, and broader reflections that stay anchored to the same central idea. Computers is not limited to a single rigid definition in ordinary language, and that wider range is part of what makes the category useful for grouping related material without losing the term's main sense.
