kaleidoscope
an optical instrument in which bits of glass, held loosely at the end of a rotating tube, are shown in continually changing symmetrical forms by reflection in two or more mirrors set at angles to each other.
a continually changing pattern of shapes and colors.
a continually shifting pattern, scene, or the like: The 1920s were a kaleidoscope of fads and fashions.
Origin of kaleidoscope
1Words Nearby kaleidoscope
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use kaleidoscope in a sentence
It is a kaleidoscope of cultures, where Jewish, Bulgarian, Moldovan and Gagauz communities have mingled peacefully for centuries.
Putin Can Attack Ukraine But He Can't Take Away My Home | Iryna Kyporenko | February 25, 2022 | TimeWith their capacity to respond to positive environmental changes, North America could one day see a healthy monarch population that uses a kaleidoscope of spaces tended by people to feed, rest and reproduce.
Monarch butterflies show hints of a comeback out West, but experts are cautious | Nikita Amir | February 7, 2022 | Popular-ScienceBake colorful kaleidoscope cookies with this adaptable marbled shortbread recipeWhole-Wheat Jam Thumbprints.
9 easy cookie recipes with 6 ingredients or fewer | Becky Krystal | December 19, 2021 | Washington PostShortages of Clorox wipes, masks and other medical goods have evolved since then into a kaleidoscope of scarcity, with appliances, toys, industrial parts and semiconductors all proving hard to find.
It’s an ever-expanding condiment kaleidoscope — and thanks to increased interest in fermentation from chefs and home cooks bolstered by pandemic-era cooking, North America’s artisanal vinegar industry has only begun to bloom.
In all, the Kefauver High kaleidoscope sold more than a million copies.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon | Robert Sam Anson | March 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHer aspirations were noble: Inject high art into pop music and create a Koons-esque kaleidoscope of dance tracks.
The Biggest Surprises and Disappointments in 2013 | Melissa Leon | December 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe collection was visual poetry with the colors colliding and blending as if seen through an ever-spinning kaleidoscope.
Paris Fall 2012 Fashion Week: Haider Ackermann, Lanvin, and Comme des Garçons | Robin Givhan | March 4, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThis dish is also a subtle kaleidoscope of wonderful flavors.
The bottom of the bank was a constantly varying kaleidoscope of beauty.
The south transept window, although sheer kaleidoscope, is gay and attractive.
A Wanderer in Paris | E. V. LucasThere moved before us a kaleidoscope of gay colors, over which breathed the fragrance of soft music.
The Way of a Man | Emerson HoughYou have often turned a kaleidoscope over and over, and watched the bits of coloured glass falling into strange patterns.
Round the Wonderful World | G. E. MittonHalf shut your eyes and make a tube of your hands and see if this doesn't remind you of a kaleidoscope.
Round the Wonderful World | G. E. Mitton
British Dictionary definitions for kaleidoscope
/ (kəˈlaɪdəˌskəʊp) /
an optical toy for producing symmetrical patterns by multiple reflections in inclined mirrors enclosed in a tube. Loose pieces of coloured glass, paper, etc, are placed between transparent plates at the far end of the tube, which is rotated to change the pattern
any complex pattern of frequently changing shapes and colours
a complicated set of circumstances
Origin of kaleidoscope
1Derived forms of kaleidoscope
- kaleidoscopic (kəˌlaɪdəˈskɒpɪk), adjective
- kaleidoscopically, adverb
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
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