tone arm

7.1

A light balanced arm on a record player that holds the needle and moves across a record

noun
/toʊn ɑrm/

Specialized

: brazo de tono

After adjusting the tone arm, the sound from the record became much clearer.
lift the tone arm

And the, the bigger dial is called the tone arm.

Examples

To start playing the vinyl, you need to lift the tone arm and position it over the record.
Eddie lifted the tone arm and indicated his collection.

Fiction book (1997)
He slides the Mozart album from its sleeve, lays it on the platter, and lowers the tone arm to his favorite cut.

Fiction book (1994)
He placed the record on the turntable and gently lowered the tone arm onto the first track.

Synonyms

pickup arm

vstone arm

Specialized

8.6

A movable arm on a record player that holds the needle and follows the grooves

emphasizes light weight and smooth movement across the record

Surface Forms

tone arm singular

tone arms plural

Morphology

tone + arm

The meaning (an arm-like part related to sound on a record player) is directly derivable from combining 'tone' (sound/quality of sound) with 'arm' (an arm-like projection or mechanical arm). This noun+noun composition follows common instrument-part naming patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Tone arm is the light arm on a record player that holds the 'needle' and moves across the record to read the grooves and make 'sound'. So the word tone points to 'sound' and arm points to the moving part, which is why the piece is called the tone arm.