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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of zoetrope

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zoetrope

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

Sit in the zoetrope, pull a lever and watch as a castle grows then shrinks all around you, or an outstretched hand with an apple zooms in and out.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2018

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

The principle of the instrument was suggested to Edison by the zoetrope, and of course, he well knew what Muybridge had accomplished in the line of motion pictures of animals almost ten years previously.

From Marvels of Modern Science by Paul Severing