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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Stroboscope

Stroboscope \Strob"o*scope\, n. [Gr. ? a whirling + -scope.]

  1. An instrument for studying or observing the successive phases of a periodic or varying motion by means of light which is periodically interrupted.

  2. An optical toy similar to the phenakistoscope. See Phenakistoscope.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
stroboscope

"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]. Related: Stroboscopic (1846).

Wiktionary
stroboscope

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 made by such a machine.

WordNet
stroboscope

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
Stroboscope

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 flashes of light. Usually the rate of the stroboscope is adjustable to different frequencies. When a rotating or vibrating object is observed with the stroboscope at its vibration frequency (or a submultiple of it), it appears stationary. Thus stroboscopes are also used to measure frequency.

The principle is used for the study of rotating, reciprocating, oscillating or vibrating objects. Machine parts and vibrating strings are common examples. A stroboscope used to set the ignition timing of internal combustion engines is called a timing light.

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.