Polaroid

[poh-luh-roid]

Trademark.

1. a brand of material for producing polarized light from unpolarized light by dichroism, consisting typically of a stretched sheet of colorless plastic treated with an iodine solution so as to have long, thin, parallel chains of polymeric molecules containing conductive iodine atoms. It is used widely in optical and lighting devices to reduce glare.

2. Also called Polaroid Land Camera. Also called Polaroid Camera,. the first brand of instant camera, developed by Edwin H. Land and marketed since 1948.

3. Also called Polaroid print. a print made by such a camera.

Polaroid

/ ˈpəʊləˌrɔɪd /

noun

1. a type of plastic sheet that can polarize a transmitted beam of normal light because it is composed of long parallel molecules. It only transmits plane-polarized light if these molecules are parallel to the plane of polarization and, since reflected light is partly polarized, it is often used in sunglasses to eliminate glare

2. any of several types of camera yielding a finished print by means of a special developing and processing technique that occurs inside the camera and takes only a few seconds to complete

3. (plural) sunglasses with lenses made from Polaroid plastic

adjective

1. of, relating to, using, or used in a Polaroid Land Camera

   Polaroid film

Example Sentences

He leaves Los Angeles with his Polaroids, just like his parents.

From Los Angeles Times

For Doherty, who showed an interest in photography, Jones went with a Polaroid camera and the suggestion he make a scrapbook from the shoot.

From Los Angeles Times

Polaroids, knick knacks and mementos are carefully arranged in various tableaus — much as he left them.

From Los Angeles Times

Stealing her father’s favorite garden gnome, she arranges for her dad to receive a series of Polaroid snapshots of the gnome at the world’s most famous tourist spots.

From Salon

In this week’s Screen Gab, we recommend a doc about the man behind the Polaroid camera, a hilarious British competition series and Season 2 of ‘Love Island USA.’

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• image 
• likeness 
• photo 
• picture 
• portrait 
• print 
• snapshot