reticule
Americannoun
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(in the 18th and 19th centuries) a woman's small bag or purse, usually in the form of a pouch with a drawstring and made of net, beading, brocade, etc
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a variant of reticle
Etymology
Origin of reticule
1720–30; < French réticule < Latin rēticulum reticle
Explanation
If you've ever peered through a telescope, you've seen a reticule, though you probably didn't know that's what you were looking at. It's the network of tiny lines that make up a sighting device's eyepiece. The crosshairs of a gun's scope or sight — which help a marksman aim when shooting — are one kind of reticule. Others exist, whether they can be clearly seen or not, in just about any instrument you look through, whether it's a telescope or a microscope. Another way to spell it is reticle, but either way it comes from the Latin word reticulatus, "having a net-like pattern," itself from reticulum, "little net."
Vocabulary lists containing reticule
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She dispensed intelligence and irony as if each were fresh herbs in a reticule she kept tied to the belt of her dress.
From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2020
They were often called lady apples, as they could slide into a purse or reticule without producing an unsightly bump – perfect for today’s lunchbox.
From The Guardian • Oct. 9, 2019
The first lady, “caught up what silver she could crowd into her old-fashioned reticule, and then jumped into the chariot with her servant girl Sukey, and Daniel Carroll, who took charge of them,” Jennings wrote.
From Washington Post • Jun. 7, 2018
Before the quartet exited my field of vision, I saw the husband bounding in pursuit of the three women, yelping a bit and waving the reticule in the air.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2018
She reached into her reticule and took out an envelope.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
