magnifying glass

American  

noun

• magnifying glasses
  plural

1. a lens that produces an enlarged image of an object.

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magnifying glass British  

noun

1. a convex lens used to produce an enlarged image of an object

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• magnifying glasses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of magnifying glass

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

magnifying glass

You can tap the speech bubble icon to type a question, or the magnifying glass to search for the object on Google and other platforms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Ternus was on the road at the supplier’s facility, and sometime after midnight he pulled out a magnifying glass to count the circles, finding that the supplier had gotten it wrong, putting in 35 grooves.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

Do you really think that foreign governments are at this point, with a magnifying glass, looking at our markets and thinking something might be about to happen?

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026

Pattern maker Mar Marcote has been with the business 42 years and still uses a magnifying glass to examine each item of clothing before it finally goes into production.

From BBC ● May 8, 2025

Again Melquíades tried to dissuade him, but he finally accepted the two magnetized ingots and three colonial coins in exchange for the magnifying glass.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez