scanner

[skan-er] /ˈskæn ər/

noun

a person or thing that scans.

optical scanner.

Photography. any device for exposing an image on film, a sensitized plate, etc., by tracing light along a series of many closely spaced parallel lines.

(in aerial photography) a device for estimating the ratio of aircraft speed to aircraft altitude.

a photoelectric device for scanning a picture to determine automatically the density of the hue or value in each area for transmission by wire or radio or for preparation of color process printing plates.

a computer-aided electronic system using photoelectric cells to separate copy, as color illustrations, into its primary colors, correct color copy, and produce a set of color separations ready for proofing or printing.

Radio. a radio receiver, used especially by police, firefighters, and the press, that continuously tunes to preselected frequencies, broadcasting any signal that it detects.

Medicine/Medical, Biology. a device for examining a body, organ, tissue, or other biologically active material.

Compare CAT scanner, MRI scanner, PET scanner, sonogram.

Origin

1550-60; scan + -er¹

Examples from the web for scanner

In either case, a pen scanner is so tiny and portable, it goes where no bulky flatbed scanner has gone before.
scanner operators can miss pages or scan them out of order.
The scanner records when she's tardy or absent and even plays a song for her birthday.
She climbed into the scanner dozens of times from age four to age eight as part of his project to chart healthy brain development.
For situations where a scanner is used under supervision, such tricks are of limited value.
scanner catches colleges embellishing their online-encyclopedia entries.
He places his fingertips on one scanner and stares at another.
AE is highly impatient but must wait a good ten minutes for the scanner to heat up.
So scientists can bring the scanner right up to the painting without ever touching the surface.
If shopping for clothes is not your idea of fun, you may want to head to a body scanner near you.

British Dictionary definitions for scanner

scanner

/ˈskænə/

noun

a person or thing that scans

a device, usually electronic, used to measure or sample the distribution of some quantity or condition in a particular system, region, or area

an aerial or similar device designed to transmit or receive signals, esp radar signals, inside a given solid angle of space, thus allowing a particular region to be scanned

any of various devices used in medical diagnosis to obtain an image of an internal organ or part See CAT scanner, nuclear magnetic resonance scanner, ultrasound scanner

(informal) a television outside broadcast vehicle

short for optical scanner

(printing) an electronic device which scans printed material and converts it to digital form

Word Origin and History for scanner

1550s, "person who examines critically," agent noun from scan (v.). From 1927 as a type of mechanical device, in mid-20c. use especially of radar and medical devices; later of computer accessories.

scanner in Technology

1. An input device that takes in an optical image and digitises it into an electronic image represented as binary data. This can be used to create a computerised version of a photo or illustration.
A scanner may be linked to optical character recognition software allowing printed documents to be converted to electronic text without having to type them in at a keyboard.
2. lexical analyser.
(1995-02-14)