burning glass


noun
  1. a converging lens used to produce heat or ignite substances by focusing the sun's rays.

Origin of burning glass

1
First recorded in 1560–70

Words Nearby burning glass

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use burning glass in a sentence

  • I took the precaution, however, to put the burning-glass into my pocket lest we should want fire.

    The Coral Island | R.M. Ballantyne
  • They lack the burning glass of a purpose, to focalize upon one  spot the separate rays of their ability.

    How to Succeed | Orison Swett Marden
  • He was like a great burning glass, concentrating the rays of the sun upon a single spot; he burned a hole wherever he went.

    How to Succeed | Orison Swett Marden
  • To show the action of a burning glass send a beam of light into a darkened room, and place in its path a double convex lens.

    Physics | Willis Eugene Tower
  • That burning glass is what did it, said one more reflective man.

    The Girls of Central High | Gertrude W. Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for burning glass

burning glass

noun
  1. a convex lens for concentrating the sun's rays into a small area to produce heat or fire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012