character recognition

British

noun

computing a magnetic or optical process used to detect the shape of individual characters printed or written on paper

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Before AI, technology known as optical character recognition could scan documents into a digital format.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

With optical character recognition the plate number is compared to one or more law enforcement crime databases of vehicles of interests or “hot lists,” according to the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2024

LaHood said afterwards he was hopeful Raffensperger’s office might propose a new solution using optical character recognition software.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 23, 2024

“Particularly, there's been a lot of advancements made in optical character recognition, which allows researchers to identify names and handwritten records,” Field says.

From National Geographic • Aug. 31, 2023

Everything ever written is scanned and stored for character recognition.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023