A scanner is a machine which is used to examine, identify, or record things, for example by using a beam of light, sound, or X-rays.
...brain scanners.
...a security scanner that can see through clothes.
2. countable noun
A scanner is a piece of computer equipment that you use for copying a picture or document onto a computer.
[computing]
scanner in British English
(ˈskænə)
noun
1.
a person or thing that scans
2.
a device, usually electronic, used to measure or sample the distribution of some quantity or condition in a particular system, region, or area
3.
an aerial or similar device designed to transmit or receive signals, esp radar signals, inside a given solid angle of space, thus allowing a particular region to be scanned
4.
any of various devices used in medical diagnosis to obtain an image of an internal organ or part
CAT scanner, nuclear magnetic resonance scanner, ultrasound scanner
5. informal
a television outside broadcast vehicle
6. short for optical scanner
7. printing
an electronic device which scans printed material and converts it to digital form
scanner in American English
(ˈskænər)
noun
a person or thing that scans; esp., any device used in television, optical character recognition, etc. for scanning
scanner in Retail
(skænər)
Word forms: (regular plural) scanners
noun
(Retail: Payment technology)
A scanner is a machine that reads electronic barcodes.
The unit is a hand-held scanner used to scan the tag or barcode on a product.
It was one of the first retailers to make handheld scanners available to customers, allowing them to pay at self-service checkouts.
A scanner is a machine that reads electronic barcodes.
They use the fingerprint scanner to approve payment to a contactless point.
The Sun (2015)
Previous studies using brain scanners have tended to focus on negative emotions like fear or sadness.
Claudia Hammond EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER: A Journey Through the Science of Feelings (2005)
The show also featured details of how to nick stuff without setting off store security scanners.
The Sun (2014)
It also includes equipment such as airport scanners and cyber security systems.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Have you caught a whiff of the carpets around airport security scanners?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Half drop out because they fail a test that judges how well they interpret the images on scanner screens.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They only allow us to use scanners to search for contraband, not people.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It would not therefore be desirable to ban the use of scanners '.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
You've set off the security scanner at the airport.
The Sun (2015)
Lying in a brain scanner, they were asked to look at photographs of lovers and friends while subjected to mildly painful shocks.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It is used in MRI scanners and in sensors detecting smuggled uranium or plutonium.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Their generation and manipulation can be observed by, for instance, brain scanners.
Evans, Peter & Deehan, Geoff The Descent of Mind - the how and why of intelligence (1990)
We will control robots by thought alone, upload memories and read each other's thoughts with brain scanners.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
These days that is done by an electronic scanner, similar to those used for tourists who are entering America.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The practice of using different suppliers for equipment, ranging from weapons and medical scanners to light bulbs, adds to the bills.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Dogs are used to sniff out bodies, carbon dioxide probes detect people breathing and x-ray scanners provide images of all items inside trucks.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The ships were also bringing scarce spare parts for medical equipment, such as monitors for CT scanners and dialysis machines.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It takes just a few moments to connect the scanner to your computer using the USB cable supplied, load the free software and begin.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Word lists with
scanner
parts of a computer, Medical and surgical instruments and equipment
In other languages
scanner
British English: scanner /ˈskænə/ NOUN
A scanner is a machine which is used to examine, identify, or record things, for example by moving a beam of light, sound, or X-rays over them.
...brain scanners.
American English: scanner
Arabic: ماسِحٌ ضَوْئِيّ
Brazilian Portuguese: scanner
Chinese: 扫描器
Croatian: skener
Czech: skener
Danish: scanner
Dutch: scanner
European Spanish: escáner
Finnish: skanneri
French: scanner
German: Scanner
Greek: σκάνερ
Italian: scanner
Japanese: スキャナー
Korean: 스캐너
Norwegian: skanner
Polish: skaner
European Portuguese: scanner
Romanian: scanner
Russian: сканнер
Latin American Spanish: escáner
Swedish: skanner
Thai: เครื่องตรวจด้วยเสียงหรือรังสี
Turkish: tarayıcı scanner
Ukrainian: сканер
Vietnamese: máy quét
All related terms of 'scanner'
CAT scanner
computerized tomography scanner : an X-ray machine that can produce stereographic images
CT scanner
computerized tomography scanner : an X-ray machine that can produce stereographic images
MR scanner
a diagnostic device employing nuclear magnetic resonance to display computer-generated sectional images of the body, consisting of a large, body-encircling magnet that generates a strong, uniform magnetic field which interacts with radio waves to excite the nuclei of hydrogen atoms, or other specific atoms, and a detection system that picks up the signals from the body and transforms them into a visual image
body scanner
a machine using X-rays and a computer, used in medicine to look for signs of disease, or in security operations to look for drugs, weapons , etc
brain scanner
a machine used to perform brain scans
mark scanner
a computer peripheral device enabling letters, numbers , or other characters usually printed on paper to be optically scanned and input to a storage device, such as magnetic tape . The device uses the process of optical character recognition
radar scanner
→ another name for scanner (sense 3 )
flatbed scanner
a computer-controlled device which electronically scans images placed on its flat plate , allowing them to be stored in digital form
optical scanner
a computer peripheral device enabling printed material, including characters and diagrams , to be scanned and converted into a form that can be stored in a computer
ultrasound scanner
a device used to examine an internal bodily structure by the use of ultrasonic waves , esp for the diagnosis of abnormality in a fetus
nuclear magnetic resonance scanner
a machine for the medical technique in which changes in the constituent atoms of the body under the influence of a powerful electromagnet are used to generate computed images of the internal organs
PET scan
a type of tomography that, through the use of radioactive tracers , shows the metabolism , as of glucose , in the body, esp. the brain: used in diagnosing abnormalities