stereo
1 Americannoun
-
stereoscopic photography.
-
a stereoscopic photograph.
-
stereophonic sound reproduction.
-
a system or the equipment for reproducing stereophonic sound.
-
Printing. stereotype.
adjective
verb (used with object)
abbreviation
adjective
noun
-
stereophonic sound
to broadcast in stereo
-
a stereophonic record player, tape recorder, etc
-
photog
-
stereoscopic photography
-
a stereoscopic photograph
-
-
printing short for stereotype
combining form
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stereo1
First recorded in 1815–25; by shortening
Origin of stereo-2
From the Greek word stereós
Explanation
A sound system with speakers that makes music seem to come from several directions at once—almost like it's all around you—is called a stereo. Your older brother should have set aside some money for food and rent instead of blowing his whole paycheck on a new stereo system. The kind of sound that's layered and three-dimensional is stereo sound, and the machine you use to play this type of recording is also called a stereo. The word is shorthand for stereophonic, which describes something recorded using two or more channels so that the sound seems to surround the listener and come from more than one source. You can also break this word into its Greek roots, stereo, "solid or three-dimensional," and phone, "voice."
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.
See Examples For:
All this gave the mix, even when reduced to stereo, an unparalleled spatial complexity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
"We only had stereo speakers, but the house shook because our friends were dancing so hard," says Pierson.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Next, the team studied stereo images of about 300 of these dust devils to determine their movement and speed.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2025
On “Sound Machine,” a track from the new album “Aloud” from poet Raymond Antrobus and percussionist Evelyn Glennie, Antrobus recalls his fear as a child when he knocked over his dad’s stereo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025
Annabelle runs and runs down this awful Pennsylvania road, because now there is a car in a driveway, and its stereo is on, and music is pumping.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
![]()
His most telling message is that the nation cannot help the "children of crisis" unless it understands them, and it cannot understand without discarding stereo- types.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
“I’ve witnessed the move from mono to stereo. Then came 4-track tape, which was bulky,” he said in 1990.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2020
We can't improve on this recommendation on Twitter: "Sounds like the third world war breaking out just above your stereo." @robinturner Aidan Moffat provides vocals on this beautiful, subtly devastating tale of dying romance.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 13, 2013
But few top executives really expect wives to conform to any stereo. typed image.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
“This one is stereo. Heterodyne. I assembled it myself.”
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
![]()
When the group disbanded in the early 1980s, Johnson was forced to take jobs working construction and selling stereos, according to the documentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Among the items he packed were two or three wireless phones, multiple car stereos, and a bunch of Craftsman tools.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
They have been blasted from car stereos on the streets of New York City, played by DJs at nightclubs across the US, dubbed into Chinese on TikTok and inspired merengue songs among Spanish-speaking audiences.
From BBC ● May 11, 2024
In 1967, he sold 30 million car stereos and tapes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
In the past few years, stereos have begun disappearing from college dorms as students attach speakers to their computers and play their MP3s.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.