Library / English Dictionary

MIRROR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Polished surface that forms images by reflecting light

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("mirror" is a kind of...):

reflector (device that reflects radiation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mirror"):

car mirror (a mirror that the driver of a car can use)

cheval glass (a full length mirror mounted in a frame in which it can be tilted)

hand glass; hand mirror (a mirror intended to be held in the hand)

glass; looking glass (a mirror; usually a ladies' dressing mirror)

pier glass; pier mirror (a large mirror between two windows)

speculum (a mirror (especially one made of polished metal) for use in an optical instrument)

Derivation:

mirror (reflect as if in a mirror)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A faithful depiction or reflection

Example:

the best mirror is an old friend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("mirror" is a kind of...):

depicting; depiction; portrayal; portraying (a representation by picture or portraiture)

Derivation:

mirror (reflect as if in a mirror)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reflect or resemble

Example:

The plane crash in Milan mirrored the attack in the World Trade Center

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "mirror" is one way to...):

reflect (give evidence of the quality of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reflect as if in a mirror

Example:

The smallest pond at night mirrors the firmament above

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "mirror" is one way to...):

reflect; reverberate (to throw or bend back (from a surface))

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

mirror (polished surface that forms images by reflecting light)

mirror (a faithful depiction or reflection)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The mirror was so placed that, seated in the dark, we could very plainly see the door opposite.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Go and stand by the door, out of the way of the mirror and the windows.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He saw only her head and shoulders, and her arms raised as she fixed her hair before a mirror.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There was no mirror, at that date, in my room; that which stands beside me as I write, was brought there later on and for the very purpose of these transformations.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The successful transfer of glucose in the device mirrored what occurs in the body.

(Researchers design placenta-on-a-chip to better understand pregnancy, NIH)

The effect is like looking at a funhouse mirror.

(Cosmic Magnifying Glasses Find Dark Matter in Small Clumps, NASA)

To do so, they used the twin 8.4-meter (27.6-foot) mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO) in the mountains of southeast Arizona.

(Massive Lava Waves Detected on Solar System’s Most Volcanically Active Object, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers observed the dyslexic individuals have round spots in both eyes, which produces mirror images, and the brain can not decide which one to consider.

(Arrangement of light receptors in the eye may cause dyslexia, Wikinews)

Then, her understanding was beyond every suspicion, quick and clear; and her manners were the mirror of her own modest and elegant mind.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Ah! here is indeed a mirror of chivalry,” said Don Pedro.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)