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
1
8.6
A machine that gets data from long paper with holes used by old computers
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
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.