1. An early motion-picture device invented by Thomas Edison that allowed one person at a time to view moving images through an eyehole
Usage: historical; often capitalized when referring to Edison's specific invention

Examples

• The kinetoscope was one of the first machines to display moving pictures to the public.
• Visitors to arcades in the 1890s would pay a nickel to peer into a kinetoscope and watch a short film.
• Edison's kinetoscope paved the way for modern cinema technology.
• The kinetoscope required viewers to look through a single eyepiece to see the moving images.
• Early kinetoscope films were only about 50 seconds long due to the length of the film strip.