- an optical instrument that uses a lens or combination of lenses to produce a magnified image of a small, close object. Modern optical microscopes have magnifications of about 1500 to 2000
See also ultramicroscope - any instrument, such as the electron microscope, for producing a magnified visual image of a small object
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mi•cro•scope /ˈmaɪkrəˌskoʊp/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Opticsan instrument having a magnifying lens, used for viewing objects too small to be seen by the unaided eye.
mi•cro•scope
(mī′krə skōp′),USA pronunciation n.
- Opticsan optical instrument having a magnifying lens or a combination of lenses for inspecting objects too small to be seen or too small to be seen distinctly and in detail by the unaided eye.
- Astronomy(cap.) the constellation Microscopium.
- Neo-Latin mīcroscopium. See micro-, -scope
- 1650–60
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
microscope /ˈmaɪkrəˌskəʊp/ n
'microscope' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Abbe
- Binnig
- biopsy
- Canada balsam
- coverslip
- cryptocrystalline
- depth of field
- electron micrograph
- electron microscope
- field
- haemocytometer
- magnify
- micro-
- microscopic
- microscopy
- microstructure
- microsurgery
- million
- naked
- nosepiece
- photomicrograph
- resolve
- resolving power
- scanning electron microscope
- scope
- -scope
- section
- smear
- stage
- Stanhope
- thionine
- turntable
- ultramicroscope
- ultramicroscopic
- vital staining
- Abbe condenser
- apertometer
- artifact
- bacterioscopy
- bright-field
- camera lucida
- cinemicrograph
- comparison microscope
- compound microscope
- conoscope
- dark-field
- defocus
- drawtube
- em
- embed