1. A container that holds items or matter.
2. Botany. The expanded tip of a flower stalk or axis that bears the floral organs or the group of flowers in a head.
3. Electronics. A fitting connected to a power supply and equipped to receive a plug.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin receptāculum, from receptāre, to receive again, frequentative of recipere, to receive. See receive.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.