CARTRIDGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cartridge mean? 

• CARTRIDGE (noun)
  The noun CARTRIDGE has 4 senses:

1. ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun

2. a light-tight supply chamber holding the film and supplying it for exposure as required

3. a module designed to be inserted into a larger piece of equipment

4. an electro-acoustic transducer that is the part of the arm of a record player that holds the needle and that is removable

  Familiarity information: CARTRIDGE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARTRIDGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cartridge" is a kind of...):

ammo; ammunition (projectiles to be fired from a gun)

Meronyms (parts of "cartridge"):

bullet; slug (a projectile that is fired from a gun)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cartridge"):

ball cartridge (a general purpose cartridge having a primer and a ball and a full charge of powder)

blank; blank shell; dummy (a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet)

cartouch; cartouche (a cartridge (usually with paper casing))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light-tight supply chamber holding the film and supplying it for exposure as required

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cartridge; magazine

Hypernyms ("cartridge" is a kind of...):

supply chamber (a mechanical device for holding something and supplying it as needed)

Holonyms ("cartridge" is a part of...):

camera; photographic camera (equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A module designed to be inserted into a larger piece of equipment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

he loaded a cartridge of fresh tape into the tape deck

Hypernyms ("cartridge" is a kind of...):

module (a self-contained component (unit or item) that is used in combination with other components)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cartridge"):

ink cartridge (a cartridge that contains ink and can be replaced)

tape cartridge (a cartridge containing magnetic tape; for use with audio or video recorders or computer systems)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An electro-acoustic transducer that is the part of the arm of a record player that holds the needle and that is removable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cartridge; pickup

Hypernyms ("cartridge" is a kind of...):

electro-acoustic transducer (a transducer that converts electrical to acoustic energy or vice versa)

Meronyms (parts of "cartridge"):

stylus (a sharp pointed device attached to the cartridge of a record player)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cartridge"):

crystal pickup (a cartridge in which an output voltage is produced by the vibration of a piezoelectric crystal)

Holonyms ("cartridge" is a part of...):

phonograph; record player (machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically)

 Context examples 

Wolf Larsen had procured a rifle and was throwing a cartridge into the barrel.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He felt confident that one cartridge remained to him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

"You've only got three cartridges, an' there's no tellin' what might happen."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A device consisting of a mouthpiece and a thin, plastic cartridge that contains nicotine plug and delivers nicotine in a vapor that is absorbed in the mouth.

(Nicotine inhaler, NCI Thesaurus)

A litter of pipes, tobacco-pouches, syringes, penknives, revolver-cartridges, and other débris was scattered over it.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A dosing unit equal to the amount of active ingredient(s) contained in a cartridge.

(Cartridge Dosing Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

“I thought so,” said he, “the revolver had an ejector, and here is the third cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our case is almost complete.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Our stores we would leave behind us, save only our guns and cartridges.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Hal was a youngster of nineteen or twenty, with a big Colt’s revolver and a hunting-knife strapped about him on a belt that fairly bristled with cartridges.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)