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
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
- Literature
Entering a strange, unreal world where usual rules are reversed
- 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 tall, straight glass used for serving mixed drinks with ice like a gin and tonic
- Specialized
A clear, strong glass that lens makers use for camera and telescope lenses
A sheet of glass made with layers of plastic so it does not break into sharp pieces
A fine, beautiful glass object made in Venice, often brightly coloured and carefully shaped
A sheet made of two glass layers with plastic between them to stop breaking into pieces
- Specialized
Glass made with small amounts of the metal lead that is very clear and sparkly
- Specialized
A legless lizard that looks like a snake, has eyelids and ear openings, and can grow its tail again
- Specialized
A clear, hard material made mostly from pure sand that resists high heat and chemicals
A tall, narrow glass with a short stem for layered cold desserts like ice cream and fruit
Glass that shows soft mixed colors and people use for stained-glass windows and lamps
- Specialized
A light hard foam made from crushed glass that keeps heat in and resists water
- Specialized
A hard outer layer of glass that protects a device screen from scratches and drops
- Specialized
A type of glass lens makers use that bends light little and keeps colours from separating
- Archaic
Old window glass you get by blowing hot glass into a round disk and spinning it flat
A glass thermometer with alcohol that rises when it gets warm and falls when it gets cold
- Specialized
A light hard material made from melted sand with many small air pockets used for insulation and building
- Indian
A large evergreen tree from India and Burma with leaves that are silvery underneath
A glass tube with mercury that measures body temperature
- Specialized
A legless lizard with a long tail that breaks off and regrows to escape predators
- Specialized
A sea animal with a skeleton of thin glass-like threads that lives on the ocean floor
- Specialized
A soft mass of very thin glass threads used to keep buildings warm and quiet
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.