oscilloscope

noun Electricity.

1. a device that gives a visual graph of amplitude versus time of a measured signal, as voltage or current.

noun

1. an instrument for producing a representation of a quantity that rapidly changes with time on the screen of a cathode-ray tube. The changes are converted into electric signals, which are applied to plates in the cathode-ray tube. Changes in the magnitude of the potential across the plates deflect the electron beam and thus produce a trace on the screen

n.“instrument for visually recording an electrical wave,” 1915, a hybrid formed from Latin oscillare “to swing” (see oscillation) + -scope. n.

1. An electronic instrument that produces an instantaneous trace on the screen that corresponds to oscillations of voltage and current.

1. An electronic instrument used to observe and measure changing electrical signals. The amplitude of the signal as it varies with time is displayed graphically on a screen as a line stretching from left to right, with displacements up and down indicating the amplitude of the signal. Oscilloscopes are used to diagnose problems in electronic signal-processing devises, such as computers or stereos, and to monitor electrical activity in the body, such as that of heartbeats.