: a thin ribbon (as of plastic) coated with a magnetic material on which information (such as sound or television images) may be stored
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe music industry largely stopped cutting performances directly to disc 70 years ago, with the advent of magnetic tape. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 9 June 2022 The prior two articles focused on storage devices (media) including magnetic tape, HDDs and SSDs. Tom Coughlin, Forbes, 26 Jan. 2022 Oelze bought an Echoplex — a machine that uses magnetic tape to add delay to a sound — and ran Auldridge’s Dobro guitar through it.Washington Post, 3 May 2022 Early devices yielded only limited information and were far less shock-resistant than modern versions, which use solid-state memory devices to record the data rather than the magnetic tape spools used on old versions. Benedikt Kammel, Bloomberg.com, 23 Mar. 2022 Beyond taking up loads of space, your old VHS recordings rely on magnetic tape that is known to deteriorate over time.Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2021 Just a few years prior, magnetic tape data was read mechanically. Ryan Larry, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2022 Its information density far exceeds what’s possible with storage media like magnetic tape or optical discs. Paul Overberg And, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021 The first blog focused on developments and projections for magnetic recording (HDDs and magnetic tape). Tom Coughlin, Forbes, 30 Dec. 2021 See More
Word History
First Known Use
1937, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
magnetic tape
noun
: a thin ribbon of plastic coated with a magnetic material on which information (as sound) may be stored