shadowgraph, n.
(ˈʃædəʊgrɑːf, -æ-)
[f. shadow n. + -graph.]
1. a. A picture formed by a shadow (usually, of the operator's hand or hands) thrown upon a screen or other lighted surface; an exhibition of a series of such pictures as a form of entertainment. Also fig., and = shadowgraphist.
| 1886 St. Stephen's Rev. 27 Mar. 5/2 At the New Club..on Saturday next..Mason and Titus, the American shadowgraphs, who nightly provoke so much laughter at the Oxford, will appear at 11.30 p.m. 1888 Glasgow Even. Times 10 Sept. 4/3 Prof. Wynne brings his shadow-graph to the Gaiety and Star this week. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 14 Dec. 4/3 An account of Trewey's famous shadowgraphs. 1928 A. S. Eddington Nature of Physical World p. xvi, In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. 1965 J. von Sternberg Fun in Chinese Laundry i. 2 To disembody human beings into shadowgraphs of my concepts of them is no labor of love. |
b. An image formed by light which has passed through a fluid and been refracted differently by regions of different density (used esp. in the study of fluid flow).
| 1926 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXI. 336 Shadowgraphs of the jets emerging into the atmosphere from nozzles of different forms and at different initial pressures were obtained by the method described above. 1945 Jrnl. Optical Soc. Amer. XXXV. 505/2 If one places a viewing screen between the jet..and the second mirror, the image of the jet as seen on the screen will show what is commonly referred to as a shadowgraph. 1955 F. J. Weyl in High Speed Aerodynamics & Jet Propulsion IX. 21 By far the most extensive use of shadowgraph techniques..concerns the recording of shock waves and slip discontinuities. 1974 W. Merzkirch Flow Visualization iii. 85 Shadowgraphs made with short-duration light pulses display a scale of details much finer than that which the hot-wire technique can resolve. 1978 Nature 5 Jan. 47/1 (caption) Shadowgraph photograph showing the tilted layers and interfaces produced by inserting a block of ice into salt-stratified water at room temperature. |
2. A picture or photograph taken by means of X-rays, a radiograph.
| 1896 Dubl. Rev. Apr. 422 A shadowgraph is produced on the plate, revealing the skeleton stripped of flesh and muscle. 1975 Nature 25 Sept. 276/2 The X-ray shadowgraph image is converted into a charge image on a dielectric by the ionisation of a gas or liquid in a chamber. 1978 Sci. Amer. Nov. 62/1 The simplest and most successful way to produce an image with X rays is with contact X-ray microscopy. This technique, which achieves a resolution substantially better than that of the light microscope, creates a shadowgraph of the specimen. |
Hence ˈshadowgraph v., intr. to produce shadowgraphs; trans. to depict by shadowgraphs, take shadowgraphs of. shadowˈgraphic a., pertaining to shadowgraphs. ˈshadowgraphist, one who produces shadowgraphs. ˈshadowgraphy, the production of shadowgraphs.
| 1888 Weekly Scotsm. 29 Sept. 4/8 Mons. F. Trewey, famed as a shadowgraphist. 1896 Daily News 29 Feb. 5/4 Mr. Stanley Kent photographed, shadowgraphed, electrographed, or radiographed..a fractured finger bone at St. Thomas's Hospital. 1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 14 Mar. 678 Shadowgraphy is an impossible monster. 1897 Strand Mag. Dec. 625/2 Mr. Devant..actually gave his shadowgraphic entertainment in the dazzling glare of a noon-day sun. 1902 Music Hall & Showman 28 Mar., His répertoire consists of shadowgraphy, conjuring [etc.]. |