lens
/lenz/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A transparent optical device: A piece of glass or other transparent material with curved surfaces, used to converge (focus) or diverge (spread out) rays of light, forming images.
- A part of the eye: The transparent, biconvex structure situated behind the iris, which, along with the cornea, focuses light onto the retina.
- A component of an optical instrument: A piece of glass or plastic forming part of a device like a camera, microscope, telescope, or pair of glasses.
- (Metaphorical) A medium of perspective: A channel or viewpoint through which something is perceived, interpreted, or understood.
Examples of Usage
- Noun (Optical Device):
- The photographer carefully cleaned the camera lens.
- A magnifying glass uses a convex lens to make objects appear larger.
- Noun (Anatomy):
- Cataracts cause the lens of the eye to become cloudy.
- Noun (Metaphorical):
- The documentary provides a lens through which we can examine social inequality.
- Her personal experience offers a unique lens on the historical event.
Advanced Usage
- "Through the lens of...": Used to indicate the perspective, framework, or ideology used to view something.
- He analyzed the conflict through the lens of economic theory.
- "Objective lens": The lens in an optical instrument (like a microscope or telescope) that is closest to the object being viewed.
- "Contact lens": A thin lens placed directly on the surface of the eye to correct vision or for cosmetic effect.
Variants and Related Words
- Lenses (n): Plural form of lens.
- Lensed (adj): Fitted with a lens or lenses.
- A high-quality lensed camera.
- Lenticular (adj): Relating to or shaped like a lens or lentil.
- Lentil (n): While a different word, it shares the same Latin root (, meaning "lentil") due to the similar shape.
Synonyms
- Optical glass: (For the device)
- Perspective: (For the metaphorical sense)
- Viewpoint: (For the metaphorical sense)
- Prism: (Metaphorically, for a medium that refracts understanding)
Related Phrases
- Zoom lens: A camera lens with a variable focal length, allowing the photographer to change magnification.
- Fisheye lens: An ultra-wide-angle lens that produces a strong visual distortion to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image.
- Lens cap: A protective cover for a camera lens.
- Lens flare: Streaks or circles of light that appear in a photograph due to non-image-forming light scattered within the lens.
Related Idioms
- Rose-colored glasses/lens: An idiom meaning an unduly optimistic or cheerful perspective.
- He views his childhood through rose-colored lenses.
- To put a different lens on something: To consider something from a new or different perspective.
- Let's put a different lens on this problem and see if we can find a solution.
Noun
- electronic equipment that uses a magnetic or electric field in order to focus a beam of electrons
- biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focuses light on the retina
- (metaphor) a channel through which something can be seen or understood
- the writer is the lens through which history can be seen
- genus of small erect or climbing herbs with pinnate leaves and small inconspicuous white flowers and small flattened pods: lentils
- a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images