Definition of "stroboscope" []

• Any of various instruments used to observe moving objects by making them appear stationary, especially with pulsed illumination or mechanical devices that intermittently interrupt observation. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Until the invention of the stroboscope, scientists could not understand how hummingbirds hover."
• "With a flash duration of one hundred-thousandth of a second, the stroboscope finally revealed the motion of wings that had been too fast for other cameras to capture."
• "The flashes were like an irregular stroboscope and the rumbling was like an enormous building was being demolished nearby."