printer

American  

[prin-ter] / ˈprɪn tər /

noun

1. a person or thing that prints, especially a person whose occupation is printing. printing.

2. Computers. an output device that produces a paper copy of alphanumeric or graphic data.

3. an instrument that automatically records telegraphic messages by means of a printing printing mechanism activated by incoming signals.

4. Movies. a photographic machine through which either the negative or positive of a master print can be run, together with unexposed film, to make a duplicate.

---

printer British  

/ ˈprɪntə /

noun

1. a person or business engaged in printing

2. a machine or device that prints

3. computing an output device for printing results on paper

---

Other Word Forms

• printerlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of printer

First recorded in 1495–1505; print + -er ¹

Example Sentences

As you pull out of the driveway, remind them of the gift that keeps on giving: your phone number—as long as they don’t ask you to fix a printer.

From The Wall Street Journal

The art department's renders were then given to prop master Brad Elliott, who built the instruments on a 3D printers, and the actors played them for real on set.

From BBC

Photo of Dr. Cain and her husband and two daughters by the printer.

From Literature

Camera lenses on the creatures’ chests took photos of their surroundings, which were then churned through an artificial-intelligence filter before eventually shooting out from printers embedded in their hindquarters onto the fair floor.

From The Wall Street Journal

Longing to escape, they take out their frustrations on the symbol for all of that—the much-maligned office printer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• laser printer