refracting telescope
1
6.7
- noun
- /rɪˈfræktɪŋ ˈtɛlɪskoʊp/
- Specialized
- Founded by George Ellery Hale and built around the largest refracting telescope in the world, it had gone into operation with great fanfare in 1897.
Examples
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I just installed a brand-new achromatic lens on my cereal box refracting telescope.
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Refracting telescopes and their photographic images do not have the same problem.
Blog text (5) -
The round structure to the left is the 40-inch Nickel refracting telescope dome.
Blog text (28) -
She did, however, take a small refracting telescope and tripod with her to continue her exploration of the night sky.
Academic text (1992) -
The latter is a Schmidt reflecting/refracting telescope that works with its backward-looking counterpart to produce stereo images.
Academic text (2000) -
The dome on top of the highest tower, named Torreon del Caballero, is where a small refracting telescope was installed in 1878.
Academic text (1994) -
Their equipment was ruled by the meridian circle, sharing only grudgingly its prestige at the observatory with long-focus refracting telescopes.
Academic text (1990) -
The large observatory houses a historic refracting telescope that has been used for decades to study distant stars.
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Using a refracting telescope, astronomers can clearly see planets and stars that are millions of miles away.
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She looked through the refracting telescope and marveled at the clear details of the moon's surface.
Synonyms
240
3.3
A tool with lenses or mirrors that makes far things look closer
84
6.6
An optical device like a telescope or rifle sight that makes distant things look closer
29
7.8
A small telescope used to look at distant things, often at sea
5
7.6
A small tube with a lens that people use to see faraway things at sea
2
7.0
A telescope that uses lenses to bend light to make an image
2
3.8
A machine with lenses or mirrors that gathers and focuses visible light to see distant stars and planets
1
5.7
An instrument for looking at distant stars, planets, and galaxies
1
9.2
A telescope for taking pictures of the night sky
1
8.8
An early telescope invented by Galileo that uses two lenses to make upright images
How Complex
- Specialized
1
9.9
- Specialized
1
6.6
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Specialized
1
5.5
- Specialized
1
6.7
5
7.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'refracting' (bending/altering the direction of light) combined with 'telescope' (device for viewing distant objects) yields a telescope that forms images by refracting light through lenses. This is a straightforward descriptive noun phrase following common compounding patterns and is therefore understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Refracting telescope comes from the verb refract meaning 'to bend' and the word telescope meaning 'a tool for looking far away'. It uses a large glass lens that bends light to make a clear image, so the name reminds us it makes pictures by bending light.