optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
| \ ˈäp-ti-kəl
\
\
Definition of optical
1
: of or relating to the science of optics
2a
: of or relating to vision : visual
b
: visible sense 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
3a
: 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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Other Words from optical
optically
\ ˈäp-ti-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
Examples of optical in a Sentence
The company manufactures microscopes, telescopes, and other optical instruments.
an optical illusion that fools most people
Recent Examples on the Web
Mauna Kea stands nearly 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level, more than twice as high as the Spanish site that is already home to the world's largest optical telescope. — Author: Caleb Jones, Anchorage Daily News, "Hawaii or Spain? Telescope experts say it may not matter," 26 Aug. 2019 Mauna Kea stands nearly 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level, more than twice as high as the Spanish site that is already home to the world’s largest optical telescope. — Washington Post, "Hawaii or Spain? Telescope experts say it may not matter," 25 Aug. 2019 Mauna Kea stands nearly 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level, more than twice as high as the Spanish site that is already home to the world's largest optical telescope. — CBS News, "Hawaii or Spain? Why experts say location might not matter for world's largest telescope," 25 Aug. 2019 Follow-up observations with optical telescopes in Hawaii and Chile helped the team identify the burst’s home as a galaxy roughly 3.6 billion light-years away. — Nadia Drake, National Geographic, "Bizarre radio burst traced back to its origin in deep space," 27 June 2019 This level of precision is what finally allowed astronomers to follow up with giant optical telescopes, like the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and the Hubble Space Telescope, and see where the signal was coming from. — Yvette Cendes, Discover Magazine, "What Are FRBs? The Discovery of Mysterious Signals From the Cosmos," 7 Feb. 2019 The galaxies in this particular patch had been imaged before with optical telescopes, but the long-exposure radio image caught the galaxies in a surprising act. — Quanta Magazine, "A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole," 14 June 2016 Gaming mice should have more sensitive optical sensors that can detect smaller movements more quickly than a standard mouse. — Jess Grey, WIRED, "The Best Mouse for Every Kind of Gamer," 17 Aug. 2019 Internally, the Viper uses infrared light for its optical switches – rather than traditional mechanical switches – to transfer player's moves, slicing precious fractions of milliseconds from gesture to on-screen response. — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, "Video game accessories let you fine tune the feel, sound and seat of your game," 13 Aug. 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for optical
optical
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of optical
technical
: 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
See the full definition for optical in the English Language Learners Dictionary
optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
| \ ˈäp-ti-kəl
\
\
Kids Definition of optical
1
: relating to the science of optics
2
: relating to seeing : visual
3
: involving the use of devices that are sensitive to light to get information for a computer
an optical scanner
optical
adjective
op·ti·cal
| \ ˈäp-ti-kəl
\
\
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