Printer Definition: Contextual Uses and Popular Collocations

Define “printer” by looking at the common examples of this word usage in different situations.

Discover other ways of referring to this device, since “printer” synonyms will make your written and spoken English more diverse and generally boost your vocabulary.

Related nouns: scanner computer laptop keyboard

Synonyms (contextual): printing machine

Common collocations: office printer wireless printer home printer

The “printer” description is fairly simple, but to have a complete understanding of it, learn the examples of how this word is combined with other parts of speech. Thus you can comprehend more of its features and create such collocations on your own.

With adjectives: broken printer slow printer expensive printer color printer

With verbs: use a printer fix a printer connect to a printer refill a printer

With nouns (noun + noun): printer ink printer paper printer cartridge printer jam

The meaning of “printer” in idiomatic contexts in English is not very diverse, but still there are some phrases that are worth knowing in order to describe some of the office-related situations.

• Office printer politics — an informal phrase describing unspoken rules and tensions around shared printers.

  She learned office printer politics the hard way after printing a 200-page document during peak hours.

• The printer is acting up — a casual way to say the printer is malfunctioning, often unexpectedly.

  Samantha tried to print the report, but the printer is acting up again.

• Out of printer ink — a modern frustration phrase implying work has come to a halt at the worst possible moment.

  Right before the meeting, the printer stopped — out of printer ink, as usual.

You already know what “printer” means, so it is time to put your understanding to the test! Complete the following exercises to apply your knowledge in practice.

Discover how you spell “printer” and how it is pronounced in French, German and Spanish.

This device has a very interesting history and has become a living legend among all the office workers. Look through these surprising details and share them with your friends and family.

• The first computer printer weighed 700 pounds.

  The UNIVAC High Speed Printer weighed more than 700 pounds (318 kilograms) and was capable of producing 600 lines in a minute. This gigantic apparatus was similar in size to a small car and its price was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars today.

• Printer ink is more expensive than champagne.

  The price of high-quality printer ink is around $2,700 per liter, which makes it more costly than champagne, perfume, or even human blood on a per-volume basis. Printer manufacturers often sell printers cheaply but profit enormously from replacement ink cartridges.

• The paperless office never happened.

  Printing has been predicted to disappear since the rise of computers. But offices do not forget about printers and print billions of pages every year. According to research, the typical office personnel prints around 10,000 pages annually.

• Printers have hidden tracking dots.

  A lot of color laser printers print almost-invisible yellow dots on every page, which are practically unnoticeable. This is a tracking system, which was developed at the request of the government, that assists the authorities in tracing printed documents.

Look at how different people refer to “printer” in their sayings and how their lives are connected with this essential office device.