Definition

Noun: A type of impact printer where the characters are mounted on a movable metal bar. The bar strikes an inked ribbon against the paper to form characters, one at a time.

Usage

The term "bar printer" specifically refers to this now-obsolete printing technology. It is used in historical or technical contexts to describe early computer printers. * The old office inventory listed a bar printer among the retired equipment. * Early computer systems often used a bar printer for their output.

Advanced Usage

• As a categorical term: "Bar printer" can be used to categorize a class of printers within the broader family of impact printers, distinguishing it from daisy wheel or dot matrix printers.
  • The collection featured several impact printers, including a bar printer from the 1970s.

Variants and Related Words

• Line Printer: A related, faster type of impact printer that prints an entire line at once, as opposed to a character printer like the bar printer.
• Type Bar: The actual metal bar that holds the character slugs in a bar printer.

Synonyms

• Type Bar Printer
• Character Printer (a broader category that includes bar printers)

Notes on Meaning

This term is highly specific to a niche area of historical technology. It does not refer to modern printers (e.g., laser, inkjet) or to printers that produce bar codes. Its meaning is fixed by its technical definition.

Noun

1. an impact printer that uses a bar to carry the type slugs