hand glass

American  

noun

1. a small mirror with a handle.

2. hand lens.

---

hand glass British  

noun

1. a magnifying glass with a handle

2. a small mirror with a handle

3. a small glazed frame for seedlings or plants

---

Etymology

Origin of hand glass

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

I gave her the bowl of powder, the rouge compact, and the lipstick, and she put away the cards and took up the hand glass from the table by her side.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

"What do you think of yourself now?" and she placed a hand glass before her.

From Pretty Madcap Dorothy Or, How She Won a Lover by Libbey, Laura Jean

An ordinary hand glass will show how it bears perithecia in all its parts.

From The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Its Habitat and its Time of Growth by Hard, Miron Elisha

Mrs. Verne picked up the ivory-backed hand glass within her reach, and looking into its depths, exclaimed, "Mrs. Verne, of St. John, New Brunswick—not exactly beautiful, but a pretty and fascinating woman."

From Marguerite Verne by Armour, Rebecca Agatha

The prize proved to be a most tempting one, a tiny brush and comb and cunning hand glass in a little satin-lined box.

From Chicken Little Jane by Ritchie, Lily Munsell

Related Words

• glass