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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

lidar en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaɪdɑɹ/ (US)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈlaɪdɑː/ (UK)

Etymology

By anacronymic evolution from LIDAR.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable, usually) The optical analogue of radar, using intense pulses of laser light to measure the composition and structure of the atmosphere.
    • Tesla bet on the idea that in the design of self-driving cars, lidar doesn't add enough capability, beyond what the cameras already provide, to be worth the additional cost.
    • Although operational environments profoundly differ, both kinds of autonomous vehicles, groundcraft and aircraft, will still rely on conceptually the same sorts of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — to perceive surroundings in real time. 2020 January 1, Adam Hadhazy, “Achieving autonomy”, in Aerospace America, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2025:
  2. (countable) A device that provides such imaging.
    • There's a lidar mounted on the roof of that Waymo.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lidars Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

sodar · radar · sonar

Deriveds

active lidar · microlidar

Hypernyms

imaging

Relateds

LIDAR

Translations (6)

pl lidar (optical analogue of radar) · fi lasertutka (optical analogue of radar) · cmn 激光雷達 /激光雷达 (optical analogue of radar) · ru лида́р (optical analogue of radar) · fi valotutka (optical analogue of radar) · fi lidar (optical analogue of radar)

wikidata: Q504027