Trending: ‘moderator’

Moderator spiked in lookups during the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on September 29, 2020, for reasons that must remain between these searchers and their dictionary.

Can we all acknowledge that this moderator has the most difficult job on the planet right now?

— Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL) September 30, 2020

We define moderator in a number of ways; it may be “one who presides over an assembly, meeting, or discussion” (as in the chair of a discussion group or the presiding officer of a town meeting), or “one who arbitrates; a mediator” (this is sense that is relevant to tonight’s debate … we think, as it might also be “a substance (such as graphite) used for slowing neutrons in a nuclear reactor”). The word can be traced to the Latin moderare, meaning “to moderate.”