compound eye

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noun

an arthropod eye subdivided into many individual, light-receptive elements, each including a lens, a transmitting apparatus, and retinal cells.

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Origin of compound eye

First recorded in 1830–40

Words nearby compound eye

compotier, compound, compound annual return, compound-complex sentence, compound engine, compound eye, compound fault, compound flower, compound fraction, compound fracture, compound interest

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

How to use compound eye in a sentence

Unlike bees and flies, which have compound eyes that merge information from hundreds or thousands of lenses into a single, pixelated mosaic image, the jumping spider has camera-type eyes, similar to those of humans and most other vertebrates.
Jumping spiders’ remarkable senses capture a world beyond our perception|Betsy Mason|October 25, 2021|Science News
The numbers reinforce another article in the Post, in which cops confessed to “turning a blind eye” to minor crimes.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown|Batya Ungar-Sargon|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This attack, coming just days after the PlayStation DDoS, was certainly an eye-opener.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet|Marc Rogers|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They eye the door anxiously, convinced that at any moment, a Pakistani or Iranian intelligence officer will come barging in.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He scrambled outside to find a 25-foot-wide crater just beyond the mud wall surrounding his family compound.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nervous fans can keep a vigilant eye on it via a webcam hosted on the town website that offers 24-hour goat viewing.
Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat|Nina Strochlic|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Lucy had noted, out of the corner of her watchful eye, the arrival of Miss Grains, indignant and perspiring.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
He, with others, thinking the miss-sahib had gone to church, was smoking the hookah of gossip in a neighboring compound.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
As his eye became accustomed to the gloom, David Arden saw traces of gilding on the walls.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
As small letters weary the eye most, so also the smallest affairs disturb us most.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Ripperda's eye fell upon the mantle,—it was discoloured a dark red in many places, he nodded his head, and the man withdrew.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter

British Dictionary definitions for compound eye

compound eye

noun

the convex eye of insects and some crustaceans, consisting of numerous separate light-sensitive units (ommatidia)See also ocellus

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

Scientific definitions for compound eye

compound eye

An eye consisting of hundreds or thousands of tiny light-sensitive parts (called ommatidia), with each part serving to focus light on the retina to create a portion of an image. Most insects and some crustaceans have compound eyes.