Polaroid camera
- noun
- /ˈpoʊləˌrɔɪd ˈkæmərə/
- I pull out my 1970s Polaroid camera—which was the camera I used up until a few years ago.
- take a Polaroid camera
- use a Polaroid camera
- an old Polaroid camera
Examples
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I used a folded map to find a scenic overlook and then took a picture with a Polaroid camera.
Blog text (22) -
This is the first Polaroid camera on the retail market.
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Do you have a Polaroid camera?
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Tim, where did you find a Polaroid camera?
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Lenny calls me and asks me to come and bring my Polaroid camera.
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Juliet takes a picture of Alex with a Polaroid camera.
Fiction book (1994) -
Penny raises an early-model Polaroid camera and takes a picture of a nearby sleeping Jeff Bebe.
Fiction book (2000) -
OKRA TATE, an elderly black man with dark circles under his eyes, comes in limping badly with an old Polaroid camera hanging from his neck.
Fiction book (1990) -
After dinner, Jesse produced his new Polaroid camera and insisted on photographing both Jenny and Carey repeatedly, then asked Jenny to photograph him.
Fiction book (1994) -
She captured the moment perfectly with her new Polaroid camera, and within seconds, the print developed in her hands.
Synonyms
A company that makes cameras that print photos right away
A camera that makes a photo and develops it instantly
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'Polaroid' (an instant-camera brand/product) combined with 'camera' (a photographic device) yields a camera of the Polaroid/instant-print type. This brand+noun pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Polaroid camera comes from the brand Polaroid, which made a special camera that produced a finished photo moments after you took the picture. Because the image developed right away, people began using 'Polaroid' to mean any 'instant' camera and its instant prints.