oscilloscope
noun
ˌä-sə-lə- 
Did you know?
In Latin oscillare means "to swing", and our word oscillation usually means "vibration" or "variation", especially in a changing flow of electricity. The oscilloscope basically draws a graph of an electrical signal. Since all kinds of physical phenomena can be converted into an electric voltage, oscilloscopes can be used to measure such things as sound, light, and heat. So an oscilloscope can analyze how one clarinet's sound is different from another's, or how one bulb's light differs from another's. Auto mechanics use oscilloscopes to measure engine vibrations; doctors use them to measure brain waves. Audio technicians use oscilloscopes to diagnose problems in audio equipment; TV and radio technicians use them to diagnose TV and radio problems. But oscilloscopes are most essential today to high-tech electronics experimentation.
Example Sentences
Mike Freeman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2021 Using an oscilloscope, the attacker monitors the energy consumption of the device. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 10 Nov. 2020 Ekanayake spent the remainder of the afternoon going back and forth from his lab to the parking garage—carrying his multimeter, his soldering station, his oscilloscope and numerous bags of cables, wires and circuit boards. Dieynaba Young, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 July 2020 In 1943 Bell Labs discovered that a teletype machine would cause a nearby oscilloscope's readings to move every time someone typed on it. Andy Greenberg, Wired, 21 June 2020 Godfather to Oregon’s technology industry, Tektronix makes oscilloscopes that engineers use to measure the performance of electronic devices. Mike Rogoway, oregonlive, 7 Nov. 2019 Tektronix makes oscilloscopes and similar instruments that engineers use to test and evaluate electronic devices. Mike Rogoway, oregonlive, 4 Sep. 2019 The pocket oscilloscope, the Raspberry Pi radio, the voice changer, the mini voltmeter, and an LED glove. Eric Johnson, Recode, 27 Aug. 2018 Batting a ball back and forth is one of the oldest concepts in video games, dating back to the days of William Higinbotham’s Tennis for Two oscilloscope experiments in the ‘50s. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 22 June 2018 See More Word History
International Scientific Vocabulary
1906, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
oscilloscope
noun
called also cathode-ray oscilloscope
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