lens
a piece of transparent substance, usually glass, having two opposite surfaces either both curved or one curved and one plane, used in an optical device in changing the convergence of light rays, as for magnification, or in correcting defects of vision.
a combination of such pieces.
some analogous device, as for affecting sound waves, electromagnetic radiation, or streams of electrons.
Anatomy. crystalline lens.
Geology. a body of rock or ore that is thick in the middle and thinner toward the edges, similar in shape to a biconvex lens.
Movies. to film (a motion picture).
Origin of lens
1Other words from lens
- lensless, adjective
- lenslike, adjective
- un·lensed, adjective
Words Nearby lens
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use lens in a sentence
Instead, we have to see this sort of behavior in humans through an entirely different lens, that recognizes how important our cultural systems are in determining what we do as men and women, boys and girls.
That’s a slight downgrade from the similar lens in the S20 Ultra, which had 10X and 100X zooming capabilities.
Samsung Note20 Ultra review: Why this big phone works for the COVID era | Aaron Pressman | August 18, 2020 | FortuneCompanies are having to rethink every aspect of the business through this new lens of rising costs and the on-location experience not being what it was just a few months ago.
SEO in the second half of 2020: Five search opportunities to act on now | Jim Yu | August 17, 2020 | Search Engine WatchEach card gives the reader a different lens on the election.
How We Designed The Look Of Our 2020 Forecast | Anna Wiederkehr (anna.wiederkehr@abc.com) | August 13, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightFor Americans, that might mean that questions of whether to stay home, wear a mask or to see friends and family without social distancing are filtered through a partisan lens.
Republicans And Democrats See COVID-19 Very Differently. Is That Making People Sick? | Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux | July 23, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
It reminded me a bit of an alternative take on The Wolf of Wall Street—through the Toni and Candace lens.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd he said, I know you see this crisis through a very personal lens.
The NY Police Union’s Vile War with Mayor De Blasio | Michael Tomasky | December 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe camera dollied backward along the length of the tower's staircase while simultaneously its lens zoomed forward.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI see my personal experiences as a lens to look at something much bigger.
Meghan Daum On Tackling The Unspeakable Parts Of Life | David Yaffe | December 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey, like Klain, deserve to be seen through a historical lens before we rush to judgment.
Go carefully over the film with an oil-immersion lens, using a mechanical stage if available.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddStill kneeling, he drew from his waistcoat pocket a powerful lens contained in a washleather bag.
Dope | Sax RohmerBy far the greatest of these scientific inventions are those which depend upon the lens.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerIt was a little longer than the usual three cell case, and there was a finely ground lens at the end.
He removed his glasses and wiped them slowly and carefully, polishing each lens with meticulous care.
British Dictionary definitions for lens (1 of 2)
/ (lɛnz) /
a piece of glass or other transparent material, used to converge or diverge transmitted light and form optical images
Also called: compound lens a combination of such lenses for forming images or concentrating a beam of light
a device that diverges or converges a beam of electromagnetic radiation, sound, or particles: See electron lens
anatomy See crystalline lens
Origin of lens
1Other words from lens
- Related adjective: lenticular
British Dictionary definitions for Lens (2 of 2)
/ (lenz, French lɑ̃) /
an industrial town in N France, in the Pas de Calais department; badly damaged in both World Wars. Pop: 36 206 (1999)
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 lens
[ lĕnz ]
A transparent structure behind the iris of the eye that focuses light entering the eye on the retina.
A piece of glass or plastic shaped so as to focus or spread light rays that pass through it, often for the purpose of forming an image.
A combination of two or more such lenses, as in a camera or telescope. Also called compound lens
A device that causes radiation to converge or diverge by an action analogous to that of an optical lens. The system of electric fields used to focus electron beams in electron microscopes is an example of a lens.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for lens (1 of 2)
A piece of transparent material, such as glass, that forms an image from the rays of light passing through it. (See focal length, refraction, and telescope.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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