microscope

[ mahy-kruh-skohp ]

/ ˈmaɪ krəˌskoʊp /

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noun

an optical instrument having a magnifying lens or a combination of lenses for inspecting objects too small to be seen or too small to be seen distinctly and in detail by the unaided eye.

(initial capital letter)Astronomy. the constellation Microscopium.

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Origin of microscope

From the New Latin word mīcroscopium, dating back to 1650–60. See micro-, -scope

Words nearby microscope

microreproduction, microrespirometer, micros., microsatellite, micro-scooter, microscope, microscopic, microscopic anatomy, Microscopium, microscopy, microsecond

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use microscope in a sentence

He brought the microscope home from the lab as lockdown was about to begin last March, along with plenty of dust.
What Dust From Space Tells Us About Ourselves|Natalie Wolchover|February 4, 2021|Quanta Magazine
The researchers were able to observe the ripple pattern using a special type of microscope.
Physicists have clocked the shortest time span ever|Maria Temming|January 29, 2021|Science News For Students
Doctors examine embryos through a microscope to determine how many cells they contain and whether they appear healthy, and choose the one that looks most viable.
How an Israeli Startup Is Using AI to Help People Make Babies|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|January 27, 2021|Singularity Hub
She got a job as a lab technician in a hospital, where she analyzed tissue samples with a microscope.
June Almeida had an unlikely path to discovering coronavirus|Suzanne Slade|January 12, 2021|Washington Post

Other libraries that Google has under the microscope are Lodash and possibly Underscore.
Google’s Lighthouse is now recommending JavaScript library alternates|Detlef Johnson|January 5, 2021|Search Engine Land
Were you being extra picky in the wake of Twilight because you knew you were under the microscope?
The Resurrection of Kristen Stewart|Marlow Stern|October 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was the aforementioned man in a lab coat sitting at a microscope.
Girls Love Science. We Tell Them Not To.|Tauriq Moosa|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the 1970s, no microscope was needed to see neck and spine injuries among players of all levels were escalating fast.
Super Bowl XLVIII Is Set to Be the Most Violent One Yet|Evin Demirel|January 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the ensuing fallout Eastside Catholic High School has found itself under an intense media microscope.
Why Pushing a Catholic School to Keep a Married Gay Man Is Bad for the LGBT Movement|Keli Goff|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With these microbial systems in the Pilbara, you can see these things in the field and under the microscope.
‘Oldest Signs of Life on Earth’ Found in Australia|The Telegraph|November 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Crystals of urea nitrate or oxalate (Fig. 19) will soon appear and can be recognized with the microscope.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
In both conditions chemic tests will show hemoglobin, but in the latter the microscope will reveal the presence of red corpuscles.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The microscope commonly shows sarcin, bacteria, and great numbers of yeast-cells.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
This is placed upon the stage of the microscope, and one of the projecting ends is heated with a small flame.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
A grain—requiring to be picked out with a pin and microscope—of truth, with a bushel of bunkum or cant.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.

British Dictionary definitions for microscope

microscope

/ (ˈmaɪkrəˌskəʊp) /

noun

an optical instrument that uses a lens or combination of lenses to produce a magnified image of a small, close object. Modern optical microscopes have magnifications of about 1500 to 2000See also simple microscope, compound microscope, ultramicroscope

any instrument, such as the electron microscope, for producing a magnified visual image of a small 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

Medical definitions for microscope

microscope

[ mī′krə-skōp′ ]

An optical instrument that uses a lens or a combination of lenses to produce magnified images of small objects, especially of objects too small to be seen by the unaided eye.

An instrument, such as an electron microscope, that uses electronic, acoustic, or other processes to magnify objects.

Scientific definitions for microscope

microscope

[ mī′krə-skōp′ ]

Any of various instruments used to magnify small objects that are difficult or impossible to observe the naked eye.♦ Optical microscopes use light reflected from or passed through the sample being observed to form a magnified image of the object, refracting the light with an arrangement of lenses and mirrors similar to those found in telescopes. See also atomic force microscope electron microscope field ion microscope.

Cultural definitions for microscope

microscope

A device that produces a magnified image of objects too small to be seen with the naked eye. Such objects are thus called “microscopic.” The microscope is widely used in medicine and biology. Common microscopes use lenses; others, such as electron microscopes, scan an object with electrons, x-rays, and other radiation besides ordinary visible light.