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Glite Dictionary
outside mirror

outside mirror

1 2.1
A piece of glass on the outside of a vehicle that shows the view to the side and behind
  • noun
  • /ˈaʊtsaɪd ˈmɪrər/
  • US
translation icon : espejo retrovisor
  • Now, you got no outside mirror.
  • large outside mirror
  • side outside mirror
  • power outside mirrors

Examples

  • "She caught Sister's eye in the outside mirror.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The only thing he'd scraped off was the outside mirror, and he was bending down to look at himself in it.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Throw in heated seats, self-dimming rear and side driver-side mirrors, as well as heated outside mirrors, and I would be sold on this car.

    Blog text (21)

  • The driver adjusted the outside mirror to improve visibility while changing lanes.

  • Before starting the journey, she checked the outside mirror to ensure there were no vehicles in her blind spot.

  • While parked, he noticed that the left outside mirror was slightly tilted and needed to be realigned.

Synonyms

car mirror
vsoutside mirror
1.7

A mirror on a car that lets the driver see behind and to the side

is specifically mounted outside to show side and rear views

How Wide

outside mirror
  • US
1 2.1
mirror
775 1.0

Surface Forms

outside mirror singular
outside mirrors plural

Morphology

outside + mirror

The meaning is directly composed from 'outside' (located on the exterior) and 'mirror' (a reflective surface), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a mirror mounted on the exterior of a vehicle. This is a straightforward, compositional noun phrase following regular English patterns and matches similar constructions in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible at B1.

Etymology

Outside mirror is a simple, literal name: a mirror attached to the outside of a car so the driver can see the 'side' and 'behind' views. That's why it means the mirror fixed to the car's outside.