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.

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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