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

"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

Do you really think that foreign governments are at this point, with a magnifying glass, looking at our markets and thinking something might be about to happen?

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026

Once he’d finished recording, Jesso asked his friend Shawn Everett to mix “Shine”; what he got back — with every imperfection of his voice under a virtual magnifying glass — terrified him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025

And there she comes, strawberry-haired Nancy Drew, the girl sleuth, so American and so sure of herself, wearing a round collared blouse and a pencil skirt, wielding her magnifying glass.

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar