tape recorder

noun

1. an electrical device for recording or playing back sound, video, or data on magnetic tape.

tape recorder

noun

1. an electrical device used for recording sounds on magnetic tape and usually also for reproducing them, consisting of a tape deck and one or more amplifiers and loudspeakers

Word History and Origins

Origin of tape recorder¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

During one interview, she wrote, detectives repeatedly stopped the tape recorder to remind her what to say, sometimes yelling or making threats.

From Los Angeles Times

I sang it into a tape recorder that I had in the car, and I did a demo and sent it to the director, Joel Schumacher, who I loved working with.

From Los Angeles Times

A wealth of archival film and newsreel footage, home movies and snapshots — and, for context, new footage of tape recorders, ash trays and martini glasses — provide marvelous illustration of Taylor’s work and world.

From Los Angeles Times

He wrote and performed a water-themed poem and “crudely, with a little tape recorder, recorded some water sounds to go with it,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times

“Will held up his tape recorder and told him something to the effect of ‘Senator, I have everything you said right here on tape,’ to which the senator sneered ‘Son, your tape — it lies!’

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• cassette recorder