From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Phonograph \Pho"no*graph\, noun [Phono- + -graph.]
1. A character or symbol used to represent a sound, esp. one used in phonography.
2. (Physics) An instrument for the mechanical registration and reproduction of audible sounds, as articulate speech, etc. It consists of a rotating cylinder or disk covered with some material easily indented, as tinfoil, wax, paraffin, etc., above which is a thin plate carrying a stylus. As the plate vibrates under the influence of a sound, the stylus makes minute indentations or undulations in the soft material, and these, when the cylinder or disk is again turned, set the plate in vibration, and reproduce the sound.
3. an instrument for reproducing sounds, especially music, previously recorded on a plastic cylinder or disk as a pattern of bumps or wiggles in a groove. A needle (stylus) held in the groove is made to vibrate by motion (rotation) of the recording, and the vibrations caused by the bumps and wiggles are transmitted directly to a membrane, or first to an electronic amplifier circuit, thereby reproducing with greater or less fidelity the original sounds. A phonograph which is equipped with electronics enabling the playback of sound with high fidelity to the original is often called a {hi-fi}.
Note: In the 1990's such devices are beginning to be replaced in many homes by compact disk players; the production of plastic recordings of music for playback on a phonograph has almost ceased for entertainment purposes. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically [syn: {record player}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
45 Moby Thesaurus words for "phonograph": Gramophone, PA, PA system, Victrola, audio sound system, audiophile, binaural system, bitch box, bullhorn, cartridge, ceramic pickup, changer, crystal pickup, derived four-channel system, discrete four-channel system, four-channel stereo system, hi-fi, hi-fi fan, high-fidelity, intercom, intercommunication system, jukebox, magnetic pickup, monaural system, mono, needle, nickelodeon, photoelectric pickup, pickup, public-address system, quadraphonic sound system, radio-phonograph combination, record changer, record player, sound reproduction system, sound truck, squawk box, stereo, stylus, system, tape deck, tape recorder, tone arm, transcription turntable, turntable
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
PHONOGRAPH, noun An irritating toy that restores life to dead noises.
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