barber pole illusion
barber pole illusion noun: an optical illusion where, when a diagonally striped pole is rotated around its vertical axis (horizontally), it appears as though the stripes are moving in the direction of its vertical axis (downwards in the case of the animation to the right) rather than around it.
Noun
barber pole illusion (plural barber pole illusions)
- An optical illusion where, when a diagonally striped pole is rotated around its vertical axis (horizontally), it appears as though the stripes are moving in the direction of its vertical axis (downwards in the case of the animation to the right) rather than around it.
- Synonyms:
- barber pole effect
Synonyms of barber pole illusion
Forms of barber pole illusion
| plural | barber pole illusions |
|---|---|
| alternative form | barber-pole illusion |
| alternative form | barberpole illusion |
Questions about barber pole illusion
- What does barber pole illusion mean?
- Barber pole illusion means an optical illusion where, when a diagonally striped pole is rotated around its vertical axis (horizontally), it appears as though the stripes are moving in the direction of its vertical axis (downwards in the case of the animation to the right) rather than around it.
- What part of speech is barber pole illusion?
- Barber pole illusion is a noun.
- What is the plural of barber pole illusion?
- The plural of barber pole illusion is barber pole illusions.
Words near barber pole illusion in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: barber pole illusion (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “barber pole illusion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/barber_pole_illusion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.