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

At that point, the audio in the cockpit recorder returned to normal, and there was no further discussion of instrument problems before the crash. —Josh Funk, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration joined state and local authorities at the scene and recovered the cockpit voice and data recorders for analysis. —Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 29 Jan. 2026

To overcome this, the researchers worked with engineers at the Lyon Institute of Nanotechnology to build a tiny, low-power brain recorder called a biologger. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 24 Jan. 2026

The plane's black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder — were recovered by NTSB investigators. —CBS News, 15 Jan. 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