magnifying glass

American  

noun

• magnifying glasses
  plural

1. a lens that produces an enlarged image of an object.

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magnifying glass British  

noun

1. a convex lens used to produce an enlarged image of an object

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• magnifying glasses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of magnifying glass

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

magnifying glass

You can tap the speech bubble icon to type a question, or the magnifying glass to search for the object on Google and other platforms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

When you look at films like that under a magnifying glass, they tend to fall apart.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

"I suppose you've got to be a bit nerdy," he says, explaining he takes a magnifying glass with him diving.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Ternus was on the road at the supplier’s facility, and sometime after midnight he pulled out a magnifying glass to count the circles, finding that the supplier had gotten it wrong, putting in 35 grooves.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

One of the pilots had used a watch crystal as a magnifying glass to focus the sun and start a fire so they didn’t have to eat the lizards raw.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen