Meaning of $\lor$ and $\land$

Question

What is the meaning of $\lor$ and $\land$ in the following function:$$\phi(x):= (x\land1)\lor(-1)$$ To give a little context, this should be a bounded transformation to bound a correlation estimator to $-1$ and $1$. I know of their use in logic but I've never seen them used like this.

Answer 1

If you represent false and true as $0$ and $1$ respectively, $x\land y=\min\{x,\,y\}$ while $x\lor y=\max\{x,\,y\}$ (verify these with a truth table if you like). This $\land=\min,\,\lor=\max$ identification is the basis of semilattices. Using it on real numbers is just a very boring example of a lattice (i.e. a semilattice with both, satisfying absorption laws).