LENS

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Lens mean? 

• LENS (noun)
  The noun LENS has 5 senses:

1. a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images

2. genus of small erect or climbing herbs with pinnate leaves and small inconspicuous white flowers and small flattened pods: lentils

3. (metaphor) a channel through which something can be seen or understood

4. biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focus light on the retina

5. electronic equipment that uses a magnetic or electric field in order to focus a beam of electrons

  Familiarity information: LENS used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LENS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lens; lens system; lense

Hypernyms ("lens" is a kind of...):

optical device (a device for producing or controlling light)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lens"):

anastigmatic lens (a lens designed to correct astigmatism)

object glass; object lens; objective; objective lens (the lens or system of lenses in a telescope or microscope that is nearest the object being viewed)

eyeglass; monocle (lens for correcting defective vision in one eye; held in place by facial muscles)

meniscus ((optics) a lens that is concave on one side and convex on the other)

intraocular lens (an artificial lens that is implanted into the eye of someone to replace a damaged natural lens or someone who has had a cataract removed)

Fresnel lens (lens composed of a number of small lenses arranged to make a lightweight lens of large diameter and short focal length)

field lens (the lens that is farthest from the eye in an optical device with more than one lens)

eyepiece; ocular (combination of lenses at the viewing end of optical instruments)

concave lens; diverging lens (a lens such that a parallel beam of light passing through it is caused to diverge or spread out)

crown lens (a lens made of optical crown glass)

converging lens; convex lens (lens such that a beam of light passing through it is brought to a point or focus)

contact; contact lens (a thin curved glass or plastic lens designed to fit over the cornea in order to correct vision or to deliver medication)

condenser; optical condenser (lens used to concentrate light on an object)

compound lens (a lens system consisting of two or more lenses on the same axis)

camera lens; optical lens (a lens that focuses the image in a camera)

anastigmat (compound lens or lens system designed to be free of astigmatism and able to form approximately point images)

Holonyms ("lens" is a part of...):

optical instrument (an instrument designed to aid vision)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Genus of small erect or climbing herbs with pinnate leaves and small inconspicuous white flowers and small flattened pods: lentils

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

genus Lens; Lens

Hypernyms ("Lens" is a kind of...):

rosid dicot genus (a genus of dicotyledonous plants)

Holonyms ("Lens" is a member of...):

Papilionoideae; subfamily Papilionoideae (alternative name used in some classification systems for the family Papilionaceae)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(metaphor) a channel through which something can be seen or understood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the writer is the lens through which history can be seen

Hypernyms ("lens" is a kind of...):

channel; communication channel; line ((often plural) a means of communication or access)

Domain usage:

figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focus light on the retina

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

crystalline lens; lens; lens of the eye

Hypernyms ("lens" is a kind of...):

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Meronyms (parts of "lens"):

cortex; lens cortex (the tissue that surrounds the lens nucleus)

lens capsule (a tenuous mesoblastic membrane surrounding the lens of the eye)

Holonyms ("lens" is a part of...):

eye; oculus; optic (the organ of sight)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Electronic equipment that uses a magnetic or electric field in order to focus a beam of electrons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

electron lens; lens

Hypernyms ("lens" is a kind of...):

electronic equipment (equipment that involves the controlled conduction of electrons (especially in a gas or vacuum or semiconductor))

 Context examples 

The anterior surface of the lens of the eye.

(Anterior Surface of the Lens, NCI Thesaurus)

However, it is the first mammalian member of the family with a primarily non-lens role.

(Absent in Melanoma 1, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)

He picked up the four ends and examined them with his pocket-lens.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Look at it through my lens.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

New glasses, brighter lighting, anti-glare sunglasses or magnifying lenses can help at first.

(Cataract, NIH: National Eye Institute)

Called MAMBO-9, it's the most distant, dusty, star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed without the help of a gravitational lens.

(ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight, National Science Foundation)

It is a capsule that is about the size of a large pill, with a lens, a light, a camera, a radio transmitter, and a battery inside.

(Capsule endoscope, NCI Dictionary)

Astronomers use this "zoom lens" effect to go hunting for amplified images of distant galaxies that otherwise would not be visible with today's telescopes.

(NASA's Great Observatories Team Up to Find Magnified and Stretched Image of Distant Galaxy, NASA)

Researchers recommend limiting screen time, applying screen filters, wearing computer glasses that block blue light, or use anti-reflective lenses to offset the effects of artificial light at nighttime.

(Artificial Light of Digital Devices Lessens Sleep Quality, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

By combining the power of a "natural lens" in space with the capability of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers made a surprising discovery.

(Massive Dead Disk Galaxy Challenges Theories of Galaxy Evolution, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)