magnetic tape
- a ribbon of material, usually with a plastic base, coated on one side (single tape) or both sides (double tape) with a substance containing iron oxide, to make it sensitive to impulses from an electromagnet: used to record sound, images, data, etc.
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Origin of magnetic tape
First recorded in 1935–40
Also called electromagnetic tape, tape.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
diskettemagnetic tape
- a long narrow plastic or metal strip coated or impregnated with a ferromagnetic material such as iron oxide, used to record sound or video signals or to store information in computersSometimes (informal) shortened to: mag tape
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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
magnetic tape
- A plastic tape coated with iron oxide for use in magnetic recording.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
magnetic tape
A device for storing information, in which signals are recorded by lining up small bits of magnetic materials in the coating on the tape. Ordinary tape recorders use magnetic tape.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.