webcam

Pluralwebcams

Formswebcams, webcamming, webcammed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A video camera that streams its images live for viewing over a computer network, at first specifically the World Wide Web.

   The wildlife center streams a live webcam pointed at the eagles' nest.

   He bought a high-definition webcam before his remote job interview.

   Note

   The name joins Web to cam, a clipping of camera, and its spelling shows its age. Steve Lohr, writing in 1996, capitalizes Webcams because the Web itself was capitalized. By 2020 Chris Baraniuk at BBC News writes webcams as an ordinary lowercase noun. Lohr's webcams watched street scenes and raised questions of surveillance. Baraniuk's are the computer accessory everyone suddenly needed for remote work.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To take part in a video communication over a network using a webcam.

   The sisters webcam every weekend even though they live on different continents.

   He webcammed with the hiring team before flying out for the final round.

   Note

   Here the verb takes no object. You webcam with someone, as in Robert K. Tanenbaum's Fatal Conceit (2014): "like he was webcamming with her." The other person comes after with. The m doubles in the verb forms, webcamming and webcammed, while the third-person form stays webcams. Give the verb a direct object and it becomes the filming-and-broadcasting verb.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To film something and broadcast it over a network using a webcam.

   Volunteers webcam the nesting site each spring, drawing thousands of online viewers.

   She webcammed her graduation ceremony for relatives who couldn't travel.

   Similarlivestream, stream, webcast, broadcast

   Note

   The transitive verb takes the thing being shown as its object, not the person watching. In Mick Herron's Slow Horses (2010) a character proposes, "We should webcam it." One word covers both filming and broadcasting, so the audience is implied rather than named. Compare the conversational verb, which takes with and a person.

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