What does perforator mean?
A perforator is a tool or machine designed to make holes in an object. It may punch a single opening, as in a ticket punch, or create a row of small holes along the edge of a sheet so that connected pieces can be separated easily. Perforators are used in offices, postal systems, manufacturing, metalworking, and various forms of ticket and coupon processing. The word is more technical than the everyday expression “hole punch,” although it can refer to that familiar tool in historical or specialized contexts. Its usefulness lies in making a precise, repeatable opening without requiring the user to cut the material directly. The term is also associated with perforated paper, in which a line of holes functions as a simple tear guide, allowing a single sheet to be divided into individual tickets, labels, or slips.
nounA tool or machine that makes holes or punches openings, especially in tickets, cards, sheets of material, or similar objects. In postal and office contexts, a perforator is a device that creates lines of small holes so that a sheet can be separated along them.
- A tool or machine that punches or drills holes in tickets, cards, sheets, or other materials.
- A machine used to create a line of small holes that allows a larger sheet to be separated into individual pieces.
"The clerk used a small perforator to punch a hole in each parking ticket."
"The old machine was fitted with a perforator that punched a row of small holes along the edge of the paper."
"Staff used a hand perforator to separate the coupons after each customer redeemed one."
Used when referring to multiple hole-punching tools or machines, or to several components of a perforating apparatus.
"The technician replaced the worn perforators in the ticket-printing machine."
Before barcode scanners and digital ticketing, a simple hand-operated perforator was the office equivalent of a hole punch—and it could turn one sheet of tickets into a strip of easy-to-hand out coupons.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of perforator
The word comes through Latin perforare, meaning “to pierce” or “bore through,” formed from per- (“through”) and forare (“to bore”). English borrowed the root in words such as perforate and perforation, while perforator developed as an agent noun for a device that performs the action. The Latin verb forare also underlies related English forms involving openings, including foramen and foraminal.
Related word forms
How perforator is actually used
The term is most common in technical, industrial, postal, and historical office contexts. In modern everyday speech, “hole punch” is usually more familiar. A perforator generally creates holes or a line of holes, while an “embosser” raises raised designs or characters.
Easily confused with perforator
A perforator is the tool that makes holes, whereas a perforation is a hole or opening, or the process of making one.