light pen

American  

noun

Computers.

1. a handheld light-sensitive device used for pointing at characters or objects on a CRT in order to make or modify drawings or to indicate functions to be performed.

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light pen British  

noun

1. computing

   1. a rodlike device which, when applied to the screen of a cathode-ray tube, can detect the time of passage of the illuminated spot across that point thus enabling a computer to determine the position on the screen being pointed at

   2. a penlike device, used to read bar codes, that emits light and determines the intensity of that light as reflected from a small area of an adjacent surface

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Etymology

Origin of light pen

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Do you prefer the feel of a light pen or a heavy one?

From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2023

By contrast, the picture telephone and a demonstration of a light pen captured my imagination.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2021

With Sketchpad, users created graphics with a light pen and could then manipulate lengths and angles in their designs.

From Scientific American • Jun. 22, 2012

Then, for example, the computer's taped voice asks the student to touch the word ran on the screen with a "light pen."

From Time Magazine Archive

By the love that clung     About him from his children, friends, and kin;     By the sharp pain, light pen and gossip tongue     Wrought in him chafing the soft heart within.

From English Literature for Boys and Girls by Marshall, H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth)