polygraph
verbEtymology From poly- + -graph.
1
To administer a polygraph test to.
- The FBI polygraphed the suspect but learned nothing because they already knew he was lying.
- Related terms
- truth serum, digraph, trigraph
polygraph
noun/ˈpɒliɡɹæf/ · /ˈpɒliɡɹɑːf/
Etymology From poly- + -graph.
7 senses
- 1A device which measures and records several physiological…
- 2A mechanical instrument for multiplying copies of a…
- 3A collection of different works, either by one or…
- 4A group of letters that represent a single phoneme.
- 5Any group of letters treated as a single item.
- 6An author who writes on many subjects.
- 7A multidimensional directed graph.
1
A device which measures and records several physiological variables such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and skin conductivity while a series of questions is being posed to a subject, in an attempt to detect deception.
- It used to be just a plain office with a chair and some instruments on a table. Then they got the new, fancy polygraph system.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 270:
2
Dated A mechanical instrument for multiplying copies of a writing, resembling multiple pantographs.
3
Archaic A collection of different works, either by one or several authors.
4
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A group of letters that represent a single phoneme.
5
Any group of letters treated as a single item.
- A polygraph consists of an unspecified number of adjacent letters. A polygraph need not be recognisable as a word in a language but if we are attempting to decipher a message which is expected to be in English and we find the heptagraph MEETING it is much more promising than if we find a heptagraph such as DKRPIGX.2002, Robert Churchhouse, Codes and Ciphers: Julius Caesar, the Enigma, and the Internet, page 3:
6
An author who writes on many subjects.
7
Mathematics, Sciences A multidimensional directed graph.
- Derived terms
- polygrapher, polygraphist