[skan-er] 
| 1. | a person or thing that scans. |
| 2. | optical scanner. See under optical scanning. |
| 3. | Photography. any device for exposing an image on film, a sensitized plate, etc., by tracing light along a series of many closely spaced parallel lines. |
| 4. | (in aerial photography) a device for estimating the ratio of aircraft speed to aircraft altitude. |
| 5. | a photoelectric device for scanning a picture to determine automatically the density of the hue or value in each area for transmission by wire or radio or for preparation of color process printing plates. |
| 6. | a computer-aided electronic system using photoelectric cells to separate copy, as color illustrations, into its primary colors, correct color copy, and produce a set of color separations ready for proofing or printing. |
| 7. | Radio. a radio receiver, used esp. by police, firefighters, and the press, that continuously tunes to preselected frequencies, broadcasting any signal that it detects. |
| 8. | Medicine/Medical, Biology. a device for examining a body, organ, tissue, or other biologically active material. |
| scan·ner (skān'ər) n.
|
scanner
1. An input device that takes in an optical image and digitises it into an electronic image represented as binary data. This can be used to create a computerised version of a photo or illustration.
A scanner may be linked to optical character recognition software allowing printed documents to be converted to electronic text without having to type them in at a keyboard.
2. lexical analyser.
(1995-02-14)
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