cassette

American  

[kuh-set, ka-] / kəˈsɛt, kæ- /

noun

• cassettes
  plural

1. Also called cassette tape.  a compact case containing a length of magnetic tape that runs between two small reels: used for recording or playback of audio or video in a tape recorder, cassette deck, video camera, or VCR, and for storage of data by some small computer systems.

2. Photography. a lightproof metal or plastic container for a roll of film, having a single spool for supplying and rewinding the film.

3. a replaceable or refillable cartridge in a typewriter or printer that contains the ribbon or ink.

4. a case or tray in a printer or copier that holds the paper.

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cassette British  

/ kæˈsɛt /

noun

1. 1. a plastic container for magnetic tape, as one inserted into a tape deck

   2. ( as modifier )

      a cassette recorder

2. photog another term for cartridge

3. films a container for film used to facilitate the loading of a camera or projector, esp when the film is used in the form of a loop

4. the injection of genes from one species into the fertilized egg of another species

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cassettes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cassette

1955–60; < French, equivalent to casse “box” ( see case ²) + -ette -ette

Explanation

A cassette is an audiotape, for recording or listening to sound. Before CDs were invented in the 1980s, many people bought their favorite music albums on cassettes. You can use the word cassette to mean an audio or a videotape, though it's more commonly used for something you listen to. To use a cassette, you need a tape player or recorder. Cassette means "little box" in French, and this describes the way it looks, like a small plastic box. The modern meaning came about in 1960.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cassette cassettes

But a Bob Dylan cassette, given to him by his girlfriend's brother, changed the path of his life.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

In 1986, Bruce Pavitt was just a music-loving guy putting out a cassette zine and writing a column in Seattle’s bi-weekly music paper, “The Rocket.”

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026

A lively, talkative little girl, she spoke fluent Korean at the time, and her adoptive father recorded her on a cassette that then sat gathering dust for years.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

“I have cassette demos that I made with a tiny one-track recorder,” she remembers.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

“Do you have a cassette tape or any kind of music?”

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

To commemorate the release, Rideaux and Hussle’s team dropped multiple limited edition vinyl records of the album as well as cassettes and T-shirts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Cody couldn’t get enough of the goings-on at the station when the two would stop by to drop off cassettes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

Along the conveyor belts runs everything you could imagine, from shoes, to old VHS cassettes and blocks of concrete.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

Somewhere in the bowels of my music collection hides 1985’s George Clinton-produced “Freaky Styley” and 1987’s “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” on crumbling cassettes.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026

There were mini-markets everywhere, selling clothes, food, cassettes, stereos, and many other things.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

Related Words

• tape