keypunch

English

Etymology

key +‎ punch

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

keypunch (plural keypunches)

1. (computing) A mechanical device whose keys are pressed, individually or in combination, to punch holes in punched cards or paper tape that correspond to particular characters.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 107:

     In an admirable combination of the skills of the scientist and the sensitivity of the artist, he mapped hundreds of thousands of images through a keypunch data-processing system and then tried to understand the meanings of the patterns that emerged independent of his own classifications.

2. (computing) An electric machine with a keyboard that has the same function.

Verb

keypunch (third-person singular simple present keypunches, present participle keypunching, simple past and past participle keypunched)

1. To use such a device or machine

Derived terms

• keypuncher

See also

• Hollerith code