microscope
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Magnifier of the image of small objects.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mykruhskohpSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmaɪkɹəskoʊp
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
Magnifier of the image of small objects
“The invention of the microscope led to the discovery of the cell.”
An optical instrument used for observing small objects.
Any instrument for imaging very small objects (such as an electron microscope).
verb
To examine with a microscope, to put under a microscope (literally or figuratively).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Magnifier of the image of small objects
Used this way, microscope is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The invention of the microscope led to the discovery of the cell.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use microscope
- “The invention of the microscope led to the discovery of the cell.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Research with the use of microscopes.
Related to research with the use of microscopes.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination.
A small flat rectangular piece of glass on which specimens can be mounted for microscopic study.
Light microscope that has two converging lens systems: the objective and the eyepiece.
Light microscope that uses scattered light to show particles too small to see with ordinary microscopes.
A microscope that is similar in purpose to a light microscope but achieves much greater resolving power by using a parallel beam of electrons to illuminate the object instead of a beam of…
Electron microscope used to observe the surface structure of a solid.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The areas that is visible through a microscope.
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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.