Polaroid
American-
a brand of material for producing polarized light from unpolarized light by dichroism, consisting typically of a stretched sheet of colorless plastic treated with an iodine solution so as to have long, thin, parallel chains of polymeric molecules containing conductive iodine atoms. It is used widely in optical and lighting devices to reduce glare.
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Also called Polaroid Land Camera. Also called Polaroid Camera,. the first brand of instant camera, developed by Edwin H. Land and marketed since 1948.
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Also called Polaroid print. a print made by such a camera.
noun
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a type of plastic sheet that can polarize a transmitted beam of normal light because it is composed of long parallel molecules. It only transmits plane-polarized light if these molecules are parallel to the plane of polarization and, since reflected light is partly polarized, it is often used in sunglasses to eliminate glare
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any of several types of camera yielding a finished print by means of a special developing and processing technique that occurs inside the camera and takes only a few seconds to complete
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(plural) sunglasses with lenses made from Polaroid plastic
adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If one of your friends took out a Polaroid camera when the final results were announced, how many people in the developed picture celebrating your win would give you the most joy?
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
In 1977 Polaroid commissioned Samaras to test a new camera that produced color images the size of a traditional 8-by-10-inch glossy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
But it would’ve felt a touch unhinged to track down your old third-grade teacher two days later and slap a Polaroid of your crudités into her hand like, Look upon my vegetable glory!
From Salon • Dec. 2, 2025
Prosecutors countered with a Polaroid employee who said the film had not even been manufactured until five months after the crime, a blow to the defense’s credibility that left jurors doubting Pratt’s other claims.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025
Wickersham entered with a Polaroid camera and took front and profile shots of me—required, I think, in case I made a claim for workmen’s comp.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
