Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Receiver \Re*ceiv"er\, n. (Firearms)
   In portable breech-loading firearms, the steel frame screwed
   to the breech end of the barrel, which receives the bolt or
   block, gives means of securing for firing, facilitates
   loading, and holds the ejector, cut-off, etc.

Receiver \Re*ceiv"er\, n. [Cf. F. receveur.]
   1. One who takes or receives in any manner.

   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      the air pump, from which the air has been withdrawn; a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.

Source : WordNet®

receiver
     n 1: set that receives radio or tv signals [syn: {receiving
          system}]
     2: (law) a person (usually appointed by a court of law) who
        liquidates assets or preserves them for the benefit of
        affected parties [syn: {liquidator}]
     3: earphone that converts electrical signals into sounds [syn:
        {telephone receiver}]
     4: a person who gets something [syn: {recipient}]
     5: a football player who catches (or is supposed to catch) a
        forward pass [syn: {pass receiver}, {pass catcher}]