snooperscope

American

[snoo-per-skohp] / ˈsnu pərˌskoʊp /

noun

a device that displays on a fluorescent screen reflected infrared radiation, enabling the user to see objects obscured by darkness.

snooperscope British

/ ˈsnuːpəˌskəʊp /

noun

military an instrument that enables the user to see objects in the dark by illuminating the object with infrared radiation and converting the reflected radiation to a visual image

"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 snooperscope

1945–50; snooper ( def. ) + -scope

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.

The snooperscope sniper often found himself a sitting duck, his, own infra-red searchlight pinpointing his position.

From Time Magazine Archive

Through the car window they sighted in on the lab with a snooperscope, a World War II device for spotting objects in the dark.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bright gleam of infra-red light that they had seen through the snooperscope bore out their suspicion that they had stumbled on a new and revolutionary kind of communication device.

From Time Magazine Archive

Standing on the lab roof, Physicist M. John Hudson pointed a snooperscope toward the mountain and immediately picked out the bright spot of light that marked the glowing diode.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023