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pinhole camera

American  

noun

  1. a simple camera in which an aperture provided by a pinhole in an opaque diaphragm is used in place of a lens.


pinhole camera British  

noun

  1. a camera with a pinhole as an aperture instead of a lens

"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

Etymology

Origin of pinhole camera

First recorded in 1890–95

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.

See Examples For:

If you don't have access to eclipse glasses, you can create a simple pinhole camera with just two sheets of cardboard or even use a colander to project the Sun's image safely onto the ground.

From BBC Mar. 28, 2025

I walked over to the Oclipsinator, a large pinhole camera that projected the eclipse onto a white card.

From Slate Apr. 8, 2024

If you cannot get one, make a pinhole camera and project the Sun's disk onto paper or another surface.

From DOGO News Oct. 10, 2023

The museum’s researchers, however, said the brushstrokes contained no evidence of a link to the camera obscura, a type of pinhole camera.

From New York Times Oct. 7, 2022

The pinhole camera concealed in the locator had worked perfectly.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

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