MICROSCOPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does microscope mean? 

• MICROSCOPE (noun)
  The noun MICROSCOPE has 1 sense:

1. magnifier of the image of small objects

  Familiarity information: MICROSCOPE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MICROSCOPE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Magnifier of the image of small objects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the invention of the microscope led to the discovery of the cell

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

magnifier (a scientific instrument that magnifies an image)

Meronyms (parts of "microscope"):

camera lucida (an optical device consisting of an attachment that enables an observer to view simultaneously the image and a drawing surface for sketching it)

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

angioscope (a modified microscope used to study capillary vessels)

electron microscope (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 light)

light microscope (microscope consisting of an optical instrument that magnifies the image of an object)

Derivation:

microscopic; microscopical (of or relating to or used in microscopy)

 Context examples 

The tissue is examined with a microscope for signs of damage or disease.

(Biopsy, NIH)

Tissue removed from the body and examined under a microscope to determine whether disease is present.

(Biopsy specimen, NCI Dictionary)

A sample of blood applied in a thin film to a microscope slide for study under a microscope.

(Blood Smear, NCI Thesaurus)

Under the microscope chromosomes appear as thin, thread-like structures.

(Chromosome Arm, NCI Thesaurus)

The pathologist may study the tissue under a microscope or perform other tests on the cells or tissue.

(Biopsy, NCI Dictionary)

Individual layers of cancer tissue are removed and examined under a microscope one at a time until all cancer tissue has been removed.

(Mohs micrographic surgery, NCI Dictionary)

A scanning probe microscope that has nanometer resolution.

(Atomic Force Microscope, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign (not cancer) condition in which cells look abnormal under a microscope and are increased in number.

(Atypical hyperplasia, NCI Dictionary)

An organism that can be seen only through a microscope.

(Microorganism, NCI Dictionary)

The bone marrow is sent to a laboratory to be looked at under a microscope.

(Bone marrow aspiration, NCI Dictionary)