lens
noun
Simple meaning
An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lehnzIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlɛnz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
optics
An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
A device which focuses or defocuses electron beams.
anatomy
Biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focus light on the retina
anatomy
The transparent crystalline structure in the eye.
by extensionfiguratively
A way of looking, literally or figuratively, at something.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (optics) An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.
Used this way, lens is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- electron lens , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus.
Cap used to keep lens free of dust when not in use.
Widely cultivated Eurasian annual herb grown for its edible flattened seeds that are cooked like peas and also ground into meal and for its leafy stalks that are used as fodder.
A tubular attachment used to keep stray light out of the lens of a camera.
A clear plastic lens that is implanted in the eye.
A worker who makes glasses for remedying defects of vision.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- retinanoun
- aperturenoun
- flangenoun
- viewfindernoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.