burning-glass

UK/ˈbəːnɪŋɡlɑːs/

noun

A magnifying lens, as used to focus sunlight on to an object.

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Meanings

nounburning-glass (plural burning-glasses)

plural burning-glasses

  1. datedA magnifying lens, as used to focus sunlight on to an object.

    The Vestal fire was rekindled by sunlight reflected from a burning-glass.

    1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 207
    2 more examples

    The more he sees her, the worse he is, uritque videndo; as in a burning-glass the sunbeams are re-collected to a centre, the rays of love are projected from her eyes.

    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 2, subsection ii

    Our burning-glass also now became a great treasure, as it enabled me to magnify, and so perceive more clearly […].

    1858, R M Ballantyne, The Coral Island
Cite this entry
APA

burning-glass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burning-glass

MLA

“burning-glass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burning-glass. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burning-glass,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burning-glass.

Source: burning-glass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.