lens

noun

1. a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images

   noun.artifact

   Synonyms lens system lense

   Source: WordNet 3.0

2. genus of small erect or climbing herbs with pinnate leaves and small inconspicuous white flowers and small flattened pods: lentils

   noun.plant

   Synonyms genus lens

   Source: WordNet 3.0

3. (metaphor) a channel through which something can be seen or understood

   noun.communication

   Examples

   The writer is the lens through which history can be seen.

   Source: WordNet 3.0

4. biconvex transparent body situated behind the iris in the eye; its role (along with the cornea) is to focuses light on the retina

   noun.body

   Synonyms crystalline lens lens of the eye

   Source: WordNet 3.0

5. electronic equipment that uses a magnetic or electric field in order to focus a beam of electrons

   noun.artifact

   Synonyms electron lens

   Source: WordNet 3.0

6. A piece of glass, or other transparent substance, ground with two opposite regular surfaces, either both curved, or one curved and the other plane, and commonly used, either singly or combined, in optical instruments, for changing the direction of rays of light, and thus magnifying objects, or otherwise modifying vision. In practice, the curved surfaces are usually spherical, though rarely cylindrical, or of some other figure.

   noun

   Source: webster1913