tone arm

American  

Or tonearm

noun

1. the free-swinging bracket of a phonograph containing the pickup.

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tone arm British  

noun

1. another name for pick-up

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Etymology

Origin of tone arm

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

The way that I listen when I’m truly enthralled by a particular piece of music certainly feels like a crush—picking up the tone arm, hitting the back button, refreshing the browser, over and over.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 26, 2018

A Grammy Award is made of a base, a cabinet and a tone arm that holds the bell.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2017

After the pieces are cast, they go through a series of filing, sanding and polishing processes, and the gramophone cabinet and tone arm are plated in 24-karat gold.

From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2017

He jokes that he may have invented scratching, the now familiar hip-hop technique, when somebody bumped into his turntable and sent the tone arm skittering across one of the records.

From BusinessWeek • Aug. 7, 2014

Someone trying to change a record dropped the tone arm down and broke the crystal.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck