noun
- Plural of kinetoscope; early motion-picture devices that displayed moving images to a single viewer through an eyehole, popular in the 1890s.
Usage: historical; often capitalized when referring to the specific Edison Kinetoscope brand
Examples
- The museum displayed several restored kinetoscopes from the 1890s.
- Visitors lined up to watch short films through the kinetoscopes at the arcade.
- Edison's kinetoscopes were among the first commercial motion-picture devices.
- The kinetoscopes required coins to operate and showed films lasting about 20 seconds.
- Early cinema enthusiasts collected kinetoscopes as novelty entertainment machines.