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refract Definition

re·fract (ri frakt′)

transitive verb

  1. to cause (a ray or wave of light, heat, or sound) to undergo refraction
  2. Optics to measure the degree of refraction of (an eye or lens)

Etymology: < L refractus, pp. of refringere, to turn aside < re-, back + frangere, to break

refract Related Forms
re·frac′·tive adjective re·frac′·tively adverb re′·frac·tiv′·ity (rē′frak tiv′ə tē) noun or re·frac′·tive·ness
refract Usage Examples

Subject

  • atmosphere: The rays of the setting sun are refracted by the atmosphere to curve slightly downwards.

Object

  • telescope: What is the diameter of the glass lens of the largest refracting telescope in the United Kingdom?
  • ray: At each surface a ray splits into partially reflected and partially refracted rays.
  • sunlight: The distinctive blue color of the water is caused by minute clay particles suspended in the water refracting the sunlight.
  • wave: This is the hot and cold air refracting the light waves above the hot tarmac.
  • light: The clouds contain ice crystals which refract the light to give the halo effect.
  • lens: Newton was led by this reasoning to the erroneous conclusion that telescopes using refracting lenses would always suffer chromatic aberration.

Preposition: at

  • angle: Chromatic Aberration, where different frequencies of light refract at different angles causing blurred images.

Preposition: through

  • prism: However, it is usually refracted through the prism of bourgeois liberalism and is thus timid in its methods and aims.
  • lens: He goes on to suggest that ' American concerns about global social change are refracted through the lens of infectious disease ' .
  • angle: A deep blue/violet light gets refracted through a bigger angle ( it gets bent more ) than the red light.

Adjective complement

  • light: Refraction All materials refract light ( alter its angle ).

Modifying Another Word

  • not: In a warm haze the sultry light Is absorbed, not refracted, by gray stone.
  • strongly: Red light is refracted more strongly than blue giving the halo its red inner edge.
  • also: As waves approach the coast they are also refracted.
  • doubly: Minerals creating these colors are said to be anisotropic - the light traveling through the medium is doubly refracted.
  • upwards: Such waves would eventually refract upwards into Jupiter's stratosphere where they might be imaged by infrared detectors on Earth.
  • neither: The game helps new york the neither refracted nor polarized.

Used with why or when

  • when: Light waves can even be refracted when they move from hot air into colder air.

Preposition: by

  • atmosphere: The rays of the setting sun are refracted by the atmosphere to curve slightly downwards.