magnifying glass

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noun

a lens that produces an enlarged image of an object.

Nearby words

magnificence, magnificent, magnifico, magnifier, magnify, magnifying glass, magniloquent, magnisonant, magnitogorsk, magnitude, magnocellular

Compare hand lens.

Origin of magnifying glass

First recorded in 1655–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for magnifying glass

The shell is covered all over with fine lines, but they need to be looked at through a magnifying-glass, they are so fine.
Hawthorne and His Circle|Julian Hawthorne
Every night I shut myself in, all alone, and studied the day's thumb-prints with a magnifying-glass.
Life On The Mississippi, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
True, under the magnifying-glass the foliage looks crisped, as is noticed after a first frost.
The Heart of the White Mountains, Their Legend and Scenery|Samuel Adams Drake
He was examining a piece of china with a magnifying-glass when I entered.
Thomas Hardy's Dorset|Robert Thurston Hopkins

By the aid of a magnifying-glass every stone in his buildings and every leaf on his trees may be counted.
The Standard Galleries - Holland|Esther Singleton

British Dictionary definitions for magnifying glass

magnifying glass

magnifier

noun

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

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