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• read/write head
  read/write head

  noun

  an electromagnetic device, as in a disk or tape drive, that reads data from or writes data on a magnetic disk or tape.
• read-write head
  read-write head

  noun

  computing an electromagnet that can both read and write information on a magnetic medium such as magnetic tape or disk

read/write head

American  

[reed-rahyt] / ˈridˈraɪt /

noun

Computers.

1. an electromagnetic device, as in a disk or tape drive, that reads data from or writes data on a magnetic disk or tape.

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read-write head British  

/ ˈriːdˈraɪt /

noun

1. computing an electromagnet that can both read and write information on a magnetic medium such as magnetic tape or disk

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

read/write head read-write head

“For example, in hard drives, the magnetic read/write head moves above the disk surface with a separation as little as three nanometers,” Zhang says.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 11, 2019

Informal generic term for `floating-head' magnetic-disk drives in which the read-write head planes over the disk surface on an air cushion.

From The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10, 01 Jul 1992 by Raymond, Eric S.

This moves the tape forward with the read-write head positioned at the end of the following record.

From Preliminary Specifications: Programmed Data Processor Model Three (PDP-3) October, 1960 by Digital Equipment Corporation