zoetrope

American  

[zoh-ee-trohp] / ˈzoʊ iˌtroʊp /

noun

1. a device for giving an illusion of motion, consisting of a slitted drum that, when whirled, shows a succession of images placed opposite the slits within the drum as one moving image.

---

zoetrope British  

/ ˈzəʊɪˌtrəʊp /

noun

1. a cylinder-shaped toy with a sequence of pictures on its inner surface which, when viewed through the vertical slits spaced regularly around it while the toy is rotated, produce an illusion of animation

---

Etymology

Origin of zoetrope

1865–70; irregular < Greek zōḗ life + tropḗ turn

Example Sentences

Fairytale is the third best-selling single of the week thanks to a limited-edition zoetrope vinyl, which was released on Friday.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025

All these form an enormous playground where monumental things happen at inopportune times, each song a zoetrope world built for consoling and commiserating with the pains of being pubescent.

From Washington Post • Jan. 17, 2023

By the time this 3-D zoetrope from 4-Mation is up to speed, your brain’s out to lunch—and those little amphibians are totally jumping.

From Slate • Dec. 12, 2017

The slide projector they’re using suddenly starts behaving like a demon-possessed zoetrope, and to the kids’ horror, the sharp-toothed Pennywise himself lunges into and out of the frame, obliterating the boundaries of the screen.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2017

It is the pattern of a kaleidoscope rather than a wall-paper; a pattern of figures running and even leaping like the figures in a zoetrope.

From What I Saw in America by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)