recorder

noun

re·​cord·​er ri-ˈkȯr-dər 

1

a

: the chief judicial magistrate of some British cities and boroughs

b

: a municipal judge with criminal jurisdiction of first instance and sometimes limited civil jurisdiction

2

: one that records

3

: any of a group of wind instruments ranging from soprano to bass that are characterized by a conical tube, a whistle mouthpiece, and eight finger holes

Illustration of recorder

• recorder 3

Examples of recorder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These small devices, from companies like Mobvoi and Plaud, are essentially digital recorders that can transcribe human speech into text within seconds. — Ben Sin, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

After that, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, which had been monitoring Didulo for months, obtained a search warrant for her home, computer, smartphones, and digital video recorder. — Zander Sherman, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2026

Investigators added that the aircraft’s data recorders showed its de-icing system repeatedly failed or was manually cycled on and off during 136 flights. — ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026

In their grandmother’s home in a small town on the Malabar coast, an audio-recorder draws Meen into a world of traces. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing recorder

• cockpit voice recorder
• flight data recorder
• flight recorder
• strip-chart recorder
• tape recorder
• videocassette recorder
• videotape recorder
• wire recorder

Rhymes for recorder

• camcorder
• disorder
• reorder
• suborder
• transborder
• boarder
• border
• corder
• order
• warder

Kids Definition

recorder

noun

re·​cord·​er ri-ˈkȯrd-ər 

1

: a person or device that records

2

: a musical instrument consisting of a usually wooden tube with finger holes and a whistle mouthpiece

Legal Definition

recorder

noun

re·​cord·​er

1

: a judge of a municipal court

2

: a public officer charged with making a record of writings or transactions (as conveyances)

a recorder of deeds