VCR

American  

1. videocassette recorder: an electronic apparatus capable of recording television programs or other signals onto videocassettes and playing them back through a television receiver.

---

VCR British  

abbreviation

1. video cassette recorder

2. visual control room (at an airfield)

---

Example Sentences

The VCR was also the leading edge of a cluster of inexpensive consumer electronics in the 1980s that transformed domestic life: the Walkman, answering machines, videogames, video cameras and PCs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

He started in 1988, back when “machine learning” meant teaching your VCR to record “Cheers.”

From MarketWatch • Nov. 15, 2025

Until the adoption of the VCR, late night television was available only at night; it had what might be called a circadian subtext.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2024

In explaining his lifelong film obsession, Cantrell says, “When I was growing up in the ’80s, my aunt and uncle had double VCR setups, so they would go and rent movies and always tape them.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2023

I forgave them for pawning my Nintendo, TV, and VCR.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers