: of, relating to, or utilizing magnetic tape that requires threading on a take-up reel
a reel-to-reel tape recorder

Examples of reel-to-reel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In 2008, well into adulthood, Seed discovered a stash of reel-to-reel audiotapes — hours and hours of interviews her mother conducted in the early 1970s with 10 celebrated photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2025 While sorting through storage in their Rhode Island studio to prep those reissues, Ivy stumbled upon a treasure trove of reel-to-reel tapes and old hard drives with unused material. Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 4 June 2025 Krapp emerges onstage, coughing and doddering, into a dusty study and sits down at a desk to rehearse an annual ritual: recording a monologue on a chunky, reel-to-reel tape recorder. Houman Barekat, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025 Only about 20 people sat in the audience, but one of them—Dylan’s first manager, Terri Thal—had a boxy Ampex reel-to-reel recording device with her, according to the New York Times’ Colin Moynihan. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for reel-to-reel

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of reel-to-reel was in 1961

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Cite this Entry

“Reel-to-reel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reel-to-reel. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

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