microscope
part of speech
noun (a microscope, microscopes)
meaning for a pupil
A scientific instrument with lenses that makes very small things look much bigger, so you can see things too small for your eyes alone, like cells and germs. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons: we look at onion skin, pond water, hair and leaves under a microscope; you place a slide on the stage, use the lenses, and focus with knobs. Microscopes helped scientists discover cells and bacteria. Phrases: «under a microscope», «look through a microscope», «put under the microscope» (study very closely).
examples
- We looked at a drop of pond water under the microscope. tree →
- The microscope makes the cells look 100 times bigger. tree →
- Turn the knob slowly to focus the microscope. tree →
- Germs are too small to see without a microscope. tree →
- Carry the microscope with two hands. tree →
- Her work was put under the microscope by the judges. tree →
note
Countable. Built from Greek «micro» (small) + «scope» (look). Adjective: microscopic (too small to see without a microscope). A telescope is for far things, a microscope for tiny things. Magnification: «×100» means 100 times bigger.
In the corpora
- Most viruses are much smaller than bacteria and too small to be seen with an ordinary light microscope.
- Bacteria are single cells too small to see without a microscope, and viruses are smaller still.
- Ancient Greek and Roman statues were often painted in bright colours; scientists find traces of the paint with special lights and microscopes.
- Scientists find traces of paint on ancient Greek and Roman statues with special lights and microscopes.
- Germs are living things too small to see without a microscope.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «microscope» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.