webcam means A video camera whose output may be viewed in real time over a computer network, originally the World Wide Web. It carries an Arena rating of 1386, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, webcam ranks #3,704 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,308 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #5,855 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #6,546 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
webcam is pronounced /ˈwɛbˌkæm/.
Why “webcam” is a great word
A video camera whose output may be viewed in real time over a computer network, originally the World Wide Web. From Web (short for World Wide Web) + cam, shortened from camera, first recorded in 1990–95. Unlike a camcorder, which captures video to a physical medium for later playback, or a surveillance camera, a fixed sentinel recording locally for security, the webcam is a deliberate aperture opened for connection. It is the grainy, spectral face of a loved one materializing in a digital window; the stark, unblinking eye of a solitary broadcaster in a darkened room; the shaky, vertiginous view from a mountaintop relayed across continents—a fragile, flickering bridge across the isolating void.
Etymology
From Web + cam, shortened from camera.
noun
- A video camera whose output may be viewed in real time over a computer network, originally the World Wide Web.
verb
- To take part in a video communication using a webcam.e.g.“I got on his computer and wrote the note. I swear there was nothing on his screen like he was webcamming with her but she must have been recording.” — 2014, Robert K. Tanenbaum, Fatal Conceit, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 178:
- To film and broadcast with a webcam.e.g.“We should webcam it.” — 2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 139:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- webcamera 76% match — A webcam. vs webcam →
- webcasting 68% match — Broadcasting over the World Wide Web, especially by using a webcam. vs webcam →
- cammer 65% match — One who uses a webcam; a webcammer. vs webcam →
- spycam 63% match — A camera, especially a webcam, used for covert surveillance. vs webcam →
- telecamera 63% match — A television camera, or a video camera more generally. vs webcam →
- camsite 60% match — A website for webcam livestreaming, often for adult entertainment. vs webcam →
- camgirl 58% match — A girl or woman who publishes or broadcasts webcam photographs or videos of herself, often for adult entertainment. vs webcam →
- webbie 56% match — A user of WebTV, a service formerly used to connect to the World Wide Web through a television rather than a computer. vs webcam →