magnifying glass
16
2.9
- noun
- /ˈmæɡnɪˌfaɪɪŋ ɡlæs/
:
lupa
- If you want to read the fine print, you will need a magnifying glass.
And they, they, they examined the plates with magnifying glasses, microscopes.
- And they, they, they examined the plates with magnifying glasses, microscopes.
- And people burn ants with the the the magnifying glass.
- I I won't claim I followed her campaign under a microscope or under a magnifying glass, but I did follow it.
- It's literally just a magnifying glass.
Examples
-
I pick up a magnifying glass and place it over the opal.
Academic text (2007) -
Where is that magnifying glass?
-
And this for any of you want to study it, you can take a magnifying glass and study the picture.
-
Study your hands under a magnifying glass.
-
Left my magnifying glass at home.
-
We are looking through a magnifying glass at an old photo.
Fiction book (1996) -
I'd need a magnifying glass to see that.
-
Vincent took his magnifying glass and held it above a small cut on his thumb.
Fiction book (1997) -
Well, I was looking under his fingernails through a magnifying glass.
-
Narrator 1: A short while later, Evelyn is carefully staring at the map through a magnifying glass.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
2
3.8
A small glass tool that makes things look larger to help you read small details
A small lens with a handle that makes things look bigger
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly built from 'magnify' (to make things look larger) and 'glass' (transparent material), so a learner who knows both words can infer an object used to enlarge/view things. The extension to a UI/search icon is a culturally common metonymy (the object stands for searching) and is widely used across languages, so the meaning remains clearly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun magnifying glass pictures a piece of glass that magnifies small things when you hold it close, so it 'makes things look bigger' and is used for seeing details.