crystal set

American  

noun

1. an early, tubeless radio receiver using a crystal detector.

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crystal set British  

noun

1. an early form of radio receiver having a crystal detector to demodulate the radio signals but no amplifier, therefore requiring earphones

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Example Sentences

Contrast a pretty, flowing dress with edgier accessories, such as these spiky bursts of crystal set in rose gold.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2018

Radios are unavailable, but, when his landlady’s son makes a crystal set, they pick up mysterious broadcasts.

From The Guardian • Aug. 27, 2017

Mr. Happel first created a prototype of the pattern with each crystal set by hand.

From New York Times • May 10, 2012

Every so often a dental patient reports that a tooth has turned into a radio receiver, that one of his fillings is acting like an old-fashioned crystal set.

From Time Magazine Archive

He began holding required meetings in the schoolhouse to inform them about vitamins and to let them know, in passing, whatever news he managed to pick up on his crystal set.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende