ultramicroscope

American  

[uhl-truh-mahy-kruh-skohp] / ˌʌl trəˈmaɪ krəˌskoʊp /

noun

1. an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.

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ultramicroscope British  

/ ˌʌltrəˈmaɪkrəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. Also called: dark-field microscope.  a microscope used for studying colloids, in which the sample is strongly illuminated from the side and colloidal particles are seen as bright points on a dark background

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Other Word Forms

• ultramicroscopic adjective
• ultramicroscopical adjective

Etymology

Origin of ultramicroscope

First recorded in 1905–10; ultra- + microscope

Example Sentences

The problem, Mr. Moskowitz says, is one that many companies would envy: “It’s so big that its success has put them under an ultramicroscope.”

From New York Times

Visibility under the "Ultramicroscope."—The particles of a sol, in contrast with the molecules of a true solution, are visible as bright scintillating points under the ultramicroscope.

From Project Gutenberg

It is probably too small to be seen by any of our present microscopes, even the recently invented ultramicroscope.

From Project Gutenberg

Our best ultramicroscopes could make a germ look forty thousand times larger.

From Project Gutenberg

What I saw through that ultramicroscope was not an unproven theory, but a fact.

From Project Gutenberg