glass
- noun
- /ɡlæs/
- Archaic
- When stargazing, she always brings her glass to see the stars more clearly.
Examples
-
He adjusted the focus of his glass to observe the planets more precisely.
-
I need a magnifying glass to see it, but okay.
-
Chen thinks for a moment, then looks through the glass at Wallace working away.
Fiction book (1999) -
I pick up a magnifying glass and place it over the opal.
Academic text (2007) -
Cannon would examine each spectrum through a magnifying glass, calling out her judgment to an assistant.
Academic text (1993) -
Children looking into a magnifying glass, imagining the image you see is the image of your true size.
-
The sailor used his glass to get a closer view of the distant ship on the horizon.
Synonyms
A tool with lenses or mirrors that makes far things look closer
An optical device like a telescope or rifle sight that makes distant things look closer
A small tube with a lens that people use to see faraway things at sea
A telescope that uses lenses to bend light to make an image
A small pair of binoculars you use to look at distant things outdoors
A telescope that uses a large lens to bend light to make images you view through an eyepiece
An early telescope invented by Galileo that uses two lenses to make upright images
Idioms
- Literature
Entering a strange, unreal world where usual rules are reversed
To overcome barriers that stop women or minority groups getting higher jobs
- Informal
To focus on the good parts of a situation instead of the bad
- Informal
Act carefully to avoid causing trouble in a tense, painful situation
Compounds
- Literature
An invisible barrier that stops women and minorities from reaching top jobs
A small glass that holds one small drink of strong alcohol like whiskey or tequila
A window made of small colored glass pieces that makes colored light, often in churches
- Specialized
Glass with a plastic layer between sheets that stops it breaking into sharp pieces
A fine, beautiful glass object made in Venice, often brightly coloured and carefully shaped
A tall, straight glass used for serving mixed drinks with ice like a gin and tonic
- Specialized
Glass made with small amounts of the metal lead that is very clear and sparkly
A sheet made of two glass layers with plastic between them to stop breaking into pieces
A sheet of glass made with layers of plastic so it does not break into sharp pieces
- Specialized
A clear, strong glass that lens makers use for camera and telescope lenses
Glass that shows soft mixed colors and people use for stained-glass windows and lamps
A tall, narrow glass with a short stem for layered cold desserts like ice cream and fruit
- Specialized
A clear, hard material made mostly from pure sand that resists high heat and chemicals
- Specialized
A legless lizard with a long tail that breaks off and regrows to escape predators
- Specialized
A legless lizard that looks like a snake, has eyelids and ear openings, and can grow its tail again
- Specialized
A soft mass of very thin glass threads used to keep buildings warm and quiet
- Specialized
A small lens that makes gemstones look larger so someone can see small details
- Specialized
A thin flat piece of glass placed over a specimen on a microscope slide
- Specialized
A thick material of tiny particles that behaves like a solid and flows very slowly
- Specialized
A sea animal with a skeleton of thin glass-like threads that lives on the ocean floor
- Specialized
A type of glass lens makers use that bends light little and keeps colours from separating
- Specialized
A shallow round glass dish used in labs to let liquids dry or to cover a beaker
- Archaic
Old window glass you get by blowing hot glass into a round disk and spinning it flat
- Specialized
A light hard material made from melted sand with many small air pockets used for insulation and building
- Specialized
A light, hard, insulating material used in buildings to keep heat in
How Powerful
- Specialized
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Etymology
Glass for a small telescope comes from the glass lenses inside it, like in a spyglass, so the name moved from the material to the tool we use to see far away.