Lens

lens   (lěnz)    (click for larger image in new window) n.   pl. lens·es A ground or molded piece of glass, plastic, or other transparent material with opposite surfaces either or both of which are curved, by means of which light rays are refracted so that they converge or diverge to form an image. A combination of two or more such pieces, sometimes with other optical devices such as prisms, used to form an image for viewing or photographing. Also called compound lens. A device that causes radiation other than light to converge or diverge by an action analogous to that of an optical lens. A transparent, biconvex body of the eye between the iris and the vitreous humor that focuses light rays entering through the pupil to form an image on the retina. tr.v.   lensed, lens·ing, lens·es Informal To make a photograph or movie of. [New Latin lēns, from Latin, lentil (from the shape of a double convex lens).] lensed adj.

lens

A piece of transparent material, such as glass, that forms an image from the rays of light passing through it. (See focal length, refraction, and telescope.)

lens 

Main Entry: lens
Variant: also lense /'lenz/
Function: noun
1 : a curved piece of glass or plastic used singly or combined ineyeglasses or an optical instrument (as a microscope) for forming an image
2 : a device for directing or focusing radiation other than light (as sound waves, radio microwaves, orelectrons)
3 : a highly transparent biconvex lens-shaped or nearly spherical body in the eye that focuses light rays entering the eye typically onto the retina, lies immediatelybehind the pupil, is made up of slender curved rod-shaped ectodermal cells in concentric lamellae surrounded by a tenuous mesoblastic capsule, and alters its focal length by becoming more or lessspherical in response to the action of the ciliary muscle on a peripheral suspensory ligament —lensed adjective —lens·less adjective

lens (lěnz)
n. pl. lens·es

1. A ground or molded piece of glass, plastic, or other transparent material with opposite surfaces either or both of which are curved, by means of which light rays are refracted so that they converge or diverge to form an image.

2. A transparent, biconvex body of the eye between the iris and the vitreous humor that focuses light rays entering through the pupil to form an image on the retina.

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lensed adj.

lens   (lěnz)  Pronunciation Key  (click for larger image in new window) A transparent structure behind the iris of the eye that focuses light entering the eye on the retina. A piece of glass or plastic shaped so as to focus or spread light rays that pass through it, often for the purpose of forming an image. A combination of two or more such lenses, as in a camera or telescope. Also called compound lens. A device that causes radiation to converge or diverge by an action analogous to that of an optical lens. The system of electric fields used to focus electron beams in electron microscopes is an example of a lens.

Lens

industrial town, Pas-de-Calais departement, Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, northern France, southwest of Lille. It was the chief urban centre of the Pas-de-Calais coal basin. Since the demise of coal mining in the 1980s, a wide range of new industries and services has been developed in Lens. These include companies manufacturing wires and cables, paper, metals, glass, frozen foods, and chemicals, as well as firms specializing in packaging and transport. Lens is also a commercial and administrative centre, and it is the site of a branch of the University of Artois. The town, which was completely destroyed in World War I, was damaged again in World War II. Pop. (1999) town, 36,206; (2004 est.) 35,200

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