number cruncher

1. A computer that is able to perform complex, lengthy calculations.
2. A person who performs numerous calculations, especially an accountant.

A computer that is either specialized for or capable of high-speed calculations. See number crunching.

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Person who spends much time calculating and manipulating numbers; also, computer that performs calculations involving very many numbers.

[common] Computations of a numerical nature, esp. those that make extensive use of floating-point numbers. The only thing Fortrash is good for. This term is in widespread informal use outside hackerdom and even in mainstream slang, but has additional hackish connotations: namely, that the computations are mindless and involve massive use of brute force. This is not always evil, esp. if it involves ray tracing or fractals or some other use that makes pretty pictures, esp. if such pictures can be used as screen backgrounds. See also crunch.

Hydrodynamic number-crunching.

(The next cartoon in the Crunchly saga is 74-12-29. The previous cartoon was 74-08-18.)

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