record player

American  

noun

1. phonograph.

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record player British  

noun

1. a device for reproducing the sounds stored on a record, consisting of a turntable, usually electrically driven, that rotates the record at a fixed speed of 33, 45, or (esp formerly) 78 revolutions a minute. A stylus vibrates in accordance with undulations in the groove in the record: these vibrations are converted into electric currents, which, after amplification, are recreated in the form of sound by one or more loudspeakers See also monophonic quadraphonics stereophonic

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Etymology

Origin of record player

First recorded in 1930–35

Compare meaning

How does record-player compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• phonograph vs. record player

Example Sentences

He powers his record player and the modest lighting in his tiny underground bunker using a hand-cranked generator.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2026

Among the good doctor’s many artifacts are a record player and vinyl LPs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

He and his brothers huddled around the record player and dropped the needle.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025

However, rather than pressing the tip into the surface like a record player needle, the tip hovers just a single atom's width above it.

From Science Daily • Dec. 3, 2024

Dad had memorized that word ’cause right on the arm of the record player it said “V.D.L.A.I. Dampening, Patented”! “Come on, Daddy, turn it on, stop teasing!”

From "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis