A semiconductor is a material that behaves in between a conductor and an insulator. At room temperature, it conducts electricity more easily than an insulator, but not as well as a conductor. At very low temperatures, semiconductors behave like insulators. At higher temperatures semiconductors can become conductive. Examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide.
You can dope semiconductors. Luckily, this is not blasting them off of their faces with liberal amounts of drugs, it is the process of adding impurities to a semiconductor to increase its ability to conduct electricity. These combined with a normal semiconductor can make diodes - components in a circuit that conduct electricity in only one direction.
Semiconductors also make transistors - used to amplify and switch electric signals. They are used very commonly - in most electronic goods including computers. Circuit boards make heavy use of semiconductors.
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