scanner

n : a device that scans automatically for some signal or

condition

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)