Phrase guide

punched tape

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /pʌnt͡ʃt ˈteɪp/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪp

1

noun

Meaning 1

Synonym of paper tape (“an early sequential digital storage medium originally used with teletype machines, consisting of a long roll of paper, each character being encoded as a pattern of punched holes”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, uncountable, usually

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: punched paper tape, paper tape

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From punched (adjective) + tape.