thought-reading machine n.

a machine that can read a person’s thoughts

Popularized in the mainstream by The Thought-Reading Machine, 1938 English translation of a novel by AndrΓ© Maurois. Otherwise relatively uncommon.

  • 1931 H. K. Wells When Moon Turned Green in Astounding Stories May 253/1 page image Hal K. Wells bibliography

    He is going to put the thought-reading machine on your brain. Then he'll learn what the projectile is for, and everything will be lost!

  • 1935 C. de Radwan Secret of Mind-Power 58

    The tests were carried out by Dr. Alexander Cannon with the help of the Psychograph, or Thought-Reading Machine, which he has invented.

  • 1948 P. Phillips Dreams are Sacred in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 55/1 page image Peter Phillips bibliography

    You'd got a thought-reading machine.

  • 1998 E. F. Bleiler & R. J. Bleiler Science-Fiction 298/1

    Aloysius Pennington, a senior ledger clerk, has been working for years on a thought-reading machine.

Research requirements

any evidence 1931
Earliest cite

Hal K. Wells, in Astounding

Last modified 2020-12-27 03:58:35
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.