record

♦

records, recording, recorded

(The noun is pronounced [[t]re̱kɔː(r)d, AM -kərd[/t]]u>. The verb is pronounced [[t]rɪkɔ͟ː(r)d[/t]]u>.)

1) N-COUNT If you keep a record of something, you keep a written account or photographs of it so that it can be referred to later.

Keep a record of all the payments...

There's no record of any marriage or children...

The result will go on your medical records.

2) VERB If you record a piece of information or an event, you write it down, photograph it, or put it into a computer so that in the future people can refer to it.

[V n] Her letters record the domestic and social details of diplomatic life in China.

[V-ed] ...a place which has rarely suffered a famine in its recorded history.

3) VERB If you record something such as a speech or performance, you put it on tape or film so that it can be heard or seen again later.

[V n] There is nothing to stop viewers recording the films on videotape...

[V-ed] The call was answered by a recorded message saying the company had closed early.

4) VERB If a musician or performer records a piece of music or a television or radio show, they perform it so that it can be put onto record, tape, or film.

[V n] It took the musicians two and a half days to record their soundtrack for the film...

[V n] She has recently recorded a programme for television.

5) N-COUNT A record is a round, flat piece of black plastic on which sound, especially music, is stored, and which can be played on a record player. You can also refer to the music stored on this piece of plastic as a record.

This is one of my favourite records.

...the biggest and best-known record company in England.

6) VERB If a dial or other measuring device records a certain measurement or value, it shows that measurement or value.

[V n] The test records the electrical activity of the brain...

[V n] The index of the performance of leading shares recorded a 16 per cent fall.

7) N-COUNT A record is the best result that has ever been achieved in a particular sport or activity, for example the fastest time, the furthest distance, or the greatest number of victories.

Roger Kingdom set the world record of 12.92 seconds...

The painting was sold for ₤665,000 - a record for the artist.

...the 800 metres, where she is the world record holder.

8) ADJ: ADJ n You use record to say that something is higher, lower, better, or worse than has ever been achieved before.

Profits were at record levels...

She won the race in record time.

9) N-COUNT: with supp Someone's record is the facts that are known about their achievements or character.

His record reveals a tough streak...

He had a distinguished record as a chaplain...

His country is making a big effort to improve its human rights record.

10) N-COUNT If someone has a criminal record, it is officially known that they have committed crimes in the past.

...a heroin addict with a criminal record going back 15 years...

Where the accused has a record of violence, they should always be kept in custody.

11) → See also , track record

12) PHRASE If you say that what you are going to say next is for the record, you mean that you are saying it publicly and officially and you want it to be written down and remembered.

We're willing to state for the record that it has enormous value.

13) PHRASE If you give some information for the record, you give it in case people might find it useful at a later time, although it is not a very important part of what you are talking about.

For the record, most Moscow girls leave school at about 18...

Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you were doing Monday. Just for the record.

14) PHRASE: usu PHR after v, PHR n If something that you say is off the record, you do not intend it to be considered as official, or published with your name attached to it.

May I speak off the record?...

At the end of the lunch, I said I had some off-the-record comments.

15) PHRASE If you are on record as saying something, you have said it publicly and officially and it has been written down.

The Chancellor is on record as saying that the increase in unemployment is `a price worth paying' to keep inflation down.

16) PHRASE If you keep information on record, you write it down or store it in a computer so that it can be used later.

The practice is to keep on record any analysis of samples.

17) PHRASE If something is the best, worst, or biggest on record, it is the best, worst, or biggest thing of its kind that has been noticed and written down.

It's the shortest election campaign on record...

The 1980s were the hottest decade on record.

18) PHRASE If you set the record straight or put the record straight, you show that something which has been regarded as true is in fact not true.

Let me set the record straight on the misconceptions contained in your article.