paper tape reader
- noun
- Archaic
- The engineer used the paper tape reader to input data into the computer system.
Examples
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Still have a DEC PC8-I paper tape reader/punch (8 channel) from the late '60s.
Blog text (9) -
During the retro computing exhibit, a paper tape reader demonstrated how data was processed in early machines.
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He retrieved the program from the paper tape reader, which had been stored on a long strip of punched tape.
Synonyms
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
A machine that gets data from long paper with holes used by old computers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a device for reading paper tape' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents: 'paper' + 'tape' (a strip of material, here made of paper) and 'reader' (a device that reads). This transparent noun–noun + noun compound follows common compounding patterns and is understandable to a B1 learner who knows the individual words, even if the concept is somewhat technical.
Etymology
Paper tape reader comes from the simple image of a machine that moves a long strip of paper called a tape and 'reads' the holes in it. That's why the name means a device that turns those holes into 'instructions' for a computer or a machine.