typewriter
[ˈtaɪpˌɹaɪtə(ɹ)]
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.26 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A device, at least partially mechanical, used to print text by pressing keys that cause type to be impressed through an inked ribbon onto paper.
noun
A machine gun or submachine gun (from the noise it makes when firing).
American usage; Dated; Slang
Example Sentences
- "So many mongrel words, like typist and typewritist, have been introduced, we propose a fixed designation of—typewriter, to mean the person who writes, and writing machine, the device."
- "He had taken the wife to his raw new palace in San Diego, where she and her people occupied a wing of great price, and Cheyne, in a veranda-room, between a secretary and a typewriter, who was also a telegraphist, toiled along wearily from day to day."
- "The typewriter got up and disappeared out a back door, and soon she come back with a man, and he said, "Can I be of some help, Mr. Higgens?""
- "The battle had opened in earnest. From the wooded ridge came in reply the clacking of "typewriters,” and bullets whined over our heads."
- "It was like sinking to sleep in a soft, dry bed with a big drink of brandy in you after you're dog-tired from a tour of duty on the firing-step, or slipping into a warm bath when you're lousy-dirty and chilled to the bone from crawling through mud and filth and dodging flares and 'typewriter' bullets half the night."
- "Why, any day I'd go up against a typewriter, with a forty-five. One shot I'd need and there'd be time for three while he was getting that damn' thing swung around and pointed —"
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: [ˈtaɪpˌɹaɪtə(ɹ)]