From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspecial effectˌspecial efˈfect noun [countable usually plural] AMan unusual image or sound that has been produced artificially to be used in a film or television programme
Examples from the Corpus
special effect• Areas include compositing - merging images, colour correction, cropping and erasing the strings from special effect sequences.• Stimulate the right thalamus when the patient is naming objects, and there is no special effect.• The only reason to see the movie is for the special effects. 