scanner

American  

[skan-er] / ˈskæn ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that scans.

2. Also called optical reader.  Also called optical scanner.  Computers. a device that scans printed, handwritten, barcode, or other visual data and encodes it into digital format.

3. 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.

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

5. 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.

6. 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.

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

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

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scanner British  

/ ˈskænə /

noun

1. a person or thing that scans

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. informal a television outside broadcast vehicle

6. short for optical scanner

7. printing an electronic device which scans printed material and converts it to digital form

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Etymology

Origin of scanner

First recorded in 1550–60; scan + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Just two years after the first UPC barcode was scanned, Business Week ran an article titled “The Supermarket Scanner that Failed” that declared barcodes were already a failure.

From Slate • May 30, 2024

Mr. Jordan’s primary residence is in Florida, according to local news site Lake and McHenry County Scanner.

From Washington Times • Apr. 7, 2023

Ms. Norwood’s Multispectral Scanner — capturing visible colors and other wavelengths not picked up on normal equipment such as infrared — took the existing satellite imagery beyond just looking at the surface.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2023

It also put on pause the City Council’s pending appointment of a new police chief, Jennifer Louis, the Berkeley Scanner reported.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 17, 2022

Nothing incriminating would be fed into the Central Scanner.

From The Junkmakers by Teichner, Albert