keypunches

Noun

keypunch (plural keypunches)

1. A mechanical device whose keys are pressed, individually or in combination, to punch holes in punched cards or paper tape that correspond to particular characters.
   • In an admirable combination of the skills of the scientist and the sensitivity of the artist, he mapped hundreds of thousands of images through a keypunch data-processing system and then tried to understand the meanings of the patterns that emerged independent of his own classifications.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 107
2. An electric machine with a keyboard that has the same function.

See all 3 meanings of keypunch