reflector

[ ri-flek-ter ]
See synonyms for reflector on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that reflects.

  2. a body, surface, or device that reflects light, heat, sound, or the like.

  1. See under telescope (def. 1).

  2. a substance, as graphite or heavy water, used to prevent the escape of neutrons from the core of a nuclear reactor.

Origin of reflector

1
First recorded in 1655–65; reflect + -or2

Other words from reflector

  • non·re·flec·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use reflector in a sentence

  • The floating lights of England are illuminated by means of lamps with metallic reflectors, on what is styled the catoptric system.

  • The modern form of lighthouse, with glass or metal reflectors, dates but from 1758, when the first Eddystone lighthouse was built.

    The Towns of Roman Britain | James Oliver Bevan
  • It was three stories high, the top story opened to seaward, with its lanterns and tin reflectors.

    The Belted Seas | Arthur Colton
  • Ceilings are usually plain and light coloured, because they are not easy to look at and because they are reflectors.

  • The apparatus used by Hansen and Lehmann in their experiments consists of two large concave reflectors.

    The Psychology of Singing | David C. Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for reflector

reflector

/ (rɪˈflɛktə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that reflects

  2. a surface or object that reflects light, sound, heat, etc

  1. a small translucent red disc, strip, etc, with a reflecting backing on the rear of a road vehicle, which reflects the light of the headlights of a following vehicle

  2. another name for reflecting telescope

  3. part of an aerial placed so as to increase the forward radiation of the radiator and decrease the backward radiation

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012