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phonograph
noun
pho·no·graph
ˈfō-nə-ˌgraf
: an instrument for reproducing sounds by means of the vibration of a stylus or needle following a spiral groove on a revolving disc or cylinder
Examples of phonograph in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This funnel has become part of a modern quest for freedom from the social world near us (in a physical sense) without giving up access to the social in the wider culture—a quest undertaken through the phonograph and ultimately through the internet.
—Gary S. Cross, Fortune, 8 May 2024
The smartphone is the logical culmination of the principle first introduced with the phonograph: the unmediated linkage of the individual to the global.
—Gary S. Cross, Fortune, 8 May 2024
Beneath the vehicular roar in the years around 1900 was a simmering new electronic sound, native to the telephone, the phonograph, the radio, and other forms of transmission and reproduction.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Egyptian star Mona Zaki will play Kulthum who from the late 1920s onwards became the first prominent Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 19 Feb. 2024
Instead, they were encoded in the grooves of a phonograph record bound inside the magazine.
—IEEE Spectrum, 7 Nov. 2022
One number takes place on a giant phonograph, another segues into a black-and-white fantasy that becomes, in effect, a movie musical within a movie musical.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 23 Dec. 2023
First captured in a painting in 1899, Nipper is the dog in the old RCA logo, the one listening to a windup cylinder phonograph.
—WIRED, 17 Nov. 2023
Radio stations were using phonograph recordings to displace live orchestras, juke boxes were crowding out club performers, and talkies put an end to silent film accompanists.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 21 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'phonograph.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1877, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to phonograph
Dictionary Entries Near phonograph
Cite this Entry
“Phonograph.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phonograph. Accessed 14 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
phonograph
noun
pho·no·graph
ˈfō-nə-ˌgraf
: an instrument that reproduces sound recorded on a grooved disk
phonographic
adjective
ˌfō-nə-ˈgraf-ik
phonographically
adverb
-i-k(ə-)lē
More from Merriam-Webster on phonograph
Nglish: Translation of phonograph for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about phonograph
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