Search for crossword answers and clues

Answer for the clue "Scientific instrument that provides a flashing light synchronized with the periodic movement of an object ", 11 letters:
stroboscope

Alternative clues for the word stroboscope

Word definitions for stroboscope in dictionaries

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 Instrument for studying or observing periodic movement by rendering a moving body visible only at regular intervals. 2 A lamp that produces short bursts of light that synchronizes with a camera shutter for photographing fast-moving objects; A photo ...

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. scientific instrument that provides a flashing light synchronized with the periodic movement of an object; can make moving object appear stationary [syn: strobe , strobe light ]

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
A stroboscope also known as a strobe , is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces brief repetitive ...

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"instrument for studying motion by periodic light," 1896, from -scope + comb. form of Greek strobos "a twisting, act of whirling," from PIE *streb(h)- "to wind, turn" (see strophe ). Earlier as the name of a similar device used as a "scientific toy" [OED]. ...

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stroboscope \Strob"o*scope\, n. [Gr. ? a whirling + -scope.] An instrument for studying or observing the successive phases of a periodic or varying motion by means of light which is periodically interrupted. An optical toy similar to the phenakistoscope. ...

Usage examples of stroboscope.

Lightning was so frequent that often the land seemed to be lit by a stroboscope, with everything moving in a jerky slow motion.

Precisely why we should see such patterns under the stroboscope is not known.

Far more difficult to explain is the fact, independently observed by several experimenters, that the stroboscope tends to enrich and intensify the visions induced by mescalin or lysergic acid.

When he thought about it for a moment he realized that the lenses of his glasses were serving as stroboscopes, alternately becoming opaque and transparent at a frequency of perhaps a hundred cycles a second.