optical

adjective op·ti·cal \ ˈäp-ti-kəl \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Examples: optical in a Sentence

Definition of optical

1 : of or relating to the science of optics

2 a : of or relating to vision : visual

b : visible 1

optical wavelength

c : of, relating to, or being objects that emit light in the visible range of frequencies

an optical galaxy

d : using the properties of light to aid vision

an optical instrument

3 a : of, relating to, or utilizing light especially instead of other forms of energy

optical microscopy

b : involving the use of light-sensitive devices to acquire information for a computer

optical character recognition

4 : of or relating to optical art

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optically

play \ˈäp-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See optical defined for English-language learners

See optical defined for kids

Examples of optical in a Sentence

The company manufactures microscopes, telescopes, and other optical instruments.
an optical illusion that fools most people

Recent Examples of optical from the Web

Frozen in place are more than 5,000 basketball-size optical sensors designed to catch a trace of a passing neutrino on the rare occasion one of them interacts with the ice.

— robert lee hotz, WSJ, "Scientists Track Neutrinos Through Ice to Their Source in the Cosmos," 12 July 2018
Auerbach’s version is a wonder in the fireboat colors of red and white, filtered through her abstract and optical eye, combining painting with the laws of science into marbled swirls, liquid patterns, and blocks of color.

— eve macsweeney, Vogue, "There’s Plenty of Great Art to See (and Instagram) Outdoors in New York This Summer," 29 June 2018
The optical sensors also recognize traffic signs like speed limits and will display them prominently on the dash for you.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "The 2018 Honda Accord proves there’s still life in the family sedan," 15 June 2018
Heavily invested in its film sales, Polaroid wasn’t prepared as all tiers of the imaging market went digital, with everyone from consumer photographers to high-end medical and optical imagers abandoning film and processing.

— ann elsner, Smithsonian, "Polaroid Inventor Edwin Land Gave Us More Than Just Instant Photos," 18 May 2018
With the Curtain installed, the vehicle (or building) is surrounded with radar and optical sensors.

— kyle mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army Is Testing a Missile-Proof 'Iron Curtain'," 14 May 2018
For astronomy, the investment plan will likely cover continuing support for Australian institutions to participate in international consortia operating large optical and radio telescopes.

— dennis normile, Science | AAAS, "Australian scientists welcome boosts in in new federal budget," 9 May 2018
When that happened, observatories around the world, from an optical telescope in the Canary Islands to a gamma-ray observatory orbiting hundreds of miles above the Earth, leapt to action.

— eoin o'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "Neutrino demonstration heralds a new way of observing the cosmos," 12 July 2018
Other optical observations completed the puzzle by measuring the distance to blazar TXS 0506+056: about four billion light years from Earth.

— Smithsonian, "Scientists Explain The Thrill of Detecting a Neutrino From a Far-Off Galaxy," 12 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'optical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of optical

1570

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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optical Synonyms

OPTICAL Defined for English Language Learners

optical

adjective

Definition of optical for English Language Learners

: used to help a person see
: relating to or using light
: involving the use of devices that get information for a computer by identifying patterns of light