collimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring into line; make parallel.
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to adjust accurately the line of sight of (a telescope).
verb
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to adjust the line of sight of (an optical instrument)
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to use a collimator on (a beam of radiation or particles)
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to make parallel or bring into line
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of collimate
1615–25; < Latin collimātus, misreading of collineātus, past participle of collineāre to direct in a straight line, equivalent to col- col- 1 + -lineā-, verbal derivative of linea line 1 + -tus past participle suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Dr. Donald Frush, chief of pediatric radiology at the Duke University School of Medicine, said that failing to properly cone, or collimate, the radiation was rare.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2011
"We have an algorithm that finds the collimated groups of high-energy particles, the jets, and we count how many of these particles above a certain energy threshold come out."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
However, Sgr A* currently has limited nearby matter, so the black hole has been relatively quiet, with weakly collimated outflows, in recent millennia.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024
Alternatively, the low-luminosity γ-ray transient may not trace the prompt GRB emission, but come from a broader collimated, mildly relativistic cocoon29.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017
The γ rays are collimated in such a manner that only 1.00% of them strike the patient.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
A bright white light under water is collimated and directed upon a prism.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
One slit is a little below the other, the rays being reflected to the collimating lens L, by means of two right-angled prisms P, and two spectra are formed, one above the other.
From Colour Measurement and Mixture by W. de W. Abney
The collimating lens L₂ is filled by this beam, and the rays issue parallel to one another and fall on the prisms P₁ and P₂, which disperse them.
From Colour Measurement and Mixture by W. de W. Abney
I took out the little collimating screws first, then I drew out the tube, and in that I found a brass plate screwed on the diaphragm which contained the lines.
From Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals by Maria Mitchell
Light which enters the collimating lens partly passes through the prisms and is partly reflected from the first surface of the prism; that we utilize, thus giving a second shadow.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 595, May 28, 1887 by Various
If the source be a point or a line, and a collimating lens be used, the incident waves may be regarded as plane.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various
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