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

"Dad labelled everything, recorded everything and backed it all up to cassette, over and over," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

She had a cassette tape full of Journey songs to listen to on the plane, and her parents walked her directly to the gate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

With its young band cutting demos on a four-track cassette recorder, “Nimrods” could have been set in 2026, 1996 or 1976 — phones and social media are practically nonexistent in the plot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 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

The rest of us sit around, listening to one of Didu's old cassette tapes of Tagore songs.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

By 24 September, the custody suite a mile or so away at Paddington Green had access to the video cassettes.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 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

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

His library task was to dub every LP in the collection onto cassettes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025

I had never felt the companionship I felt sitting next to her, listening to her Fela and Onyeka cassettes on the tiny tape-player-radio, which she had put batteries into.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• tape