magnetic tape

noun

Definition of magnetic tape

: a thin ribbon (as of plastic) coated with a magnetic material on which information (such as sound or television images) may be stored

Examples of magnetic tape in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But digital recordings are perishable in their own right — far less stable, in fact, than recordings on magnetic tape. — New York Times, "The Day the Music Burned," 11 June 2019 Since its invention in 1928, magnetic tape has played a role in recording all sorts of data. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Strange Machine That Played Paper Instead of Records or Tapes," 12 Apr. 2018 But in order to replace existing silicon chip or magnetic tape storage technologies, DNA is going to have to get a lot cheaper to predictably read, write, and package. — Megan Molteni, WIRED, "The Rise of DNA Data Storage," 26 June 2018 Catalog, a company founded by scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, designs systems that store data on manmade versions of microscopic DNA molecules, instead of on bulky magnetic tapes or silicon chips. — Hiawatha Bray, BostonGlobe.com, "The next big thing in data storage is actually microscopic," 26 June 2018 Until 1977, when the experiment ended, the probes transmitted raw temperature data back to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the data was recorded on magnetic tapes. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Astronauts’ Footprints May Have Warmed the Moon," 14 June 2018 That strong magnetic tape, slipped into a little cassette recorder, has held us together for all these years. — Eileen Sharkey, BostonGlobe.com, "In the age of Skype, we still keep in touch via cassette tape," 8 June 2018 Essentially, each individual Lincoln movement was controlled by a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator and guided by a particular audio tone from a magnetic tape machine (or Binloop machine). — Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, "The Robot Presidents Who Rule Disney World," 19 Dec. 2017 The space agency often reused its expensive magnetic tapes, erasing and overwriting data. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "These Rare NASA Photos Were Saved From the Trash," 11 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'magnetic tape.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.