camera
1 Americannoun
-
a device for capturing a photographic image or recording a video, using film or digital memory.
-
(in a television transmitting apparatus) the device in which the picture to be televised is formed before it is changed into electric impulses.
adjective
idioms
-
on camera, being filmed or televised by a live camera.
Be sure to look alert when you are on camera.
-
off camera,
-
out of the range of a video camera, as a television or motion picture camera.
The stunt woman was waiting just off camera for her cue to enter the scene.
-
(of an actor) in one’s private rather than professional life.
The two co-stars are best friends off camera.
-
noun
plural
cameraeidioms
noun
-
an optical device consisting of a lens system set in a light-proof construction inside which a light-sensitive film or plate can be positioned See also cine camera digital camera
-
television the equipment used to convert the optical image of a scene into the corresponding electrical signals
-
See camera obscura
-
a judge's private room
-
-
law relating to a hearing from which members of the public are excluded
-
in private
-
-
not within an area being filmed
-
(esp of an actor) being filmed
Etymology
Origin of camera1
First recorded in 1730–40; shortening of camera obscura ( def. ); 1840-45 camera 1 for def. 1; utimately from Latin camera “vaulted room, vault”; see camera 2 ( def. )
Origin of camera2
First recorded in 1630–40; for earlier sense “vaulted room,” from Latin, from Greek kamára “vault, vaulted room”; see chamber ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright appears to have his back to the camera.
From Barron's
Inside he found a hidden camera feeding a vast surveillance network that logs the license plate of every driver passing through this stretch of remote backcountry between San Diego and the Arizona state line.
From Los Angeles Times
As the camera follows a suburban Chicago street sweeper along its early morning route, it stops at a modest house, perched on the other side of the train tracks.
From Salon
I want to know the first time you played football, your first memories and also - because of something you've just said to me off camera - how good were you?
From BBC
Huitzilin exited his vehicle holding up his own camera phone alongside his wife, and the two groups got into a heated exchange, according to video played in court.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
