reflectorn.

1749 Philos. Trans. 1748 (Royal Soc.) 45 369 These [sailcloth covers] may serve a double purpose, as coverings for the Pits in wet Weather, and as Reflectors of the Sun's Heat upon them in dry Weather.

1751 J. Hill Hist. Materia Medica v. 273 If plunged into Water, that fluid giving it a temporary Polish,..it then return'd the Image of the Sun as bright as any other Reflector.

1788 M. Wollstonecraft Mary Advt. p. iii The sweetest sounds or the reflector of the most sublime beams.

1806 W. Henry Epitome Chem. (ed. 4) i. iii. 28 Metals, therefore, are much better reflectors [of heat] than glass.

1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 153/1 They..lose themselves in its central grey matter—the recipient and reflector of the impressions which they convey.

1863 J. G. Murphy Crit. Comm. Bk. Gen. (i. 16–19) 61 The full-orbed reflector of the solar beams, as she is during the night.

1879 O. N. Rood Mod. Chromatics 12 As a general thing polished metallic surfaces are the best reflectors of light.

1933 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists 17 258 The geologic section contains many strata which act as good reflectors of wave energy.

1970 J. Blish Spock must Die! x. 71 It bumped up against something which was a perfect, coherant [sic] reflector of tachyons.

1990 Scope Summer 9/3 Spiders' webs are efficient reflectors of UV.

2006 D. H. Erwin Extinction vii. 175 Methane-rich zones corresponded with an acoustic echo mirroring the sea bottom... Such bottom-simulating reflectors have been interpreted as marking the bottom of methane gas deposits.

1777 W. Hutchinson Treat. Pract. Seamanship 153 These hand lamps and reflectors were contrived to make night signals by lights.

1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 395/2 Reflector for a lighthouse is composed of a number of square plane glass mirrors.

1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. l. 519 Cause a lanthorn to be made with a concave back, and furnished with a reflector.

c1860 M. Faraday Electric Light in Var. Forces Nature 153 At Teignmouth, some of the revolving lights have ten lamps and reflectors.

1897 Strand Mag. Mar. 277/1 How far have you sent a telegraphic despatch on the air?.. Did you use a reflector?

1909 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 82 496 The zinc sulphide screen S..was fixed behind the lead plate P, in such a position that no α-particles could strike it directly. When a reflector was placed in the position RR at about 1 cm. from the end of the tube, scintillations were at once observed.

1924 Public Opinion 11 July 27/2 It is possible by use of a device named by Senator Marconi a ‘reflector’ to send out wireless waves in a particular direction only.

1958 Times 1 July 7/3 It consists of an arrangement of enriched reactor fuel in ordinary water and will be used to investigate..the use of different materials as ‘reflectors’.

2005 Video Syst. Nov. 24/2 This type of reflector acts more like a mirror, and the light reflected back at the subject will be harsh and not pleasing.

1908 Daily Chron. 21 Nov. 9/3 Mr Lea, of this firm, has also introduced an ingenious accessory in the form of a rearward warning, which is not exactly a lamp, but a borrower of light. It consists of a red lens backed by a hemispherical reflector, and when the light of an overtaking vehicle falls upon it there is returned to the pursuer a ruddy glow.]

1909 Cyclists' Touring Club Gaz. Dec. 544/1 If a rearward indication is considered desirable, the Lea Reflex reflector and lens does everything needful... It throws back the light of the overtaking vehicle in a red glow through a wide angle.

1931 Highway Code 13 If you do not use a red rear lamp remember to keep your red reflector clean and properly fixed.

1972 A. Price Col. Butler's Wolf vii. 68 He came directly down the road... His headlight 'ud pick up the first of the reflectors. Even my bicycle light picks 'em up.

1994 Which? Aug. 48/2 Nothing can guarantee a cyclist's safety on the roads, particularly after dark. But having a good set of lights and reflectors and wearing reflective clothing will at least make you as visible as possible.

1768 W. Emerson Elements Optics 227 A plain reflector or looking-glass.

1794 H. B. Dudley Travellers in Switzerland iii. ii Dull reflector of odd faces.

1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic vi. 147 Where or what the reflector could be which exhibited this image, I cannot conceive.

1840 G. Darley Thomas à Becket ii. iv. 34 Will you never put away that mirror, Marian? The Queen detests all reflectors as much as you doat on them.

1894 Westm. Gaz. 23 Apr. 3/1 Sometimes..the sharper..has recourse to..‘reflectors’. These are exceedingly well-made little instruments..used to ‘reflect’..the cards held by the players.

1916 G. Outram Legal & Other Lyrics 153 When he sees his face in a reflector, He is ready to swear 'tis the lion so rare Of the Customhouse architecture!

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 492 [Gregorian Telescope.] At the bottom of the tube..is placed the large concave reflector.

1866 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. xvii. 152 An alloy of 33 parts of tin to 67 of copper..is known as speculum-metal, and employed for the reflectors of telescopes.

1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 924/1 The Very Large Telescope (VLT), a project of the European Southern Observatory, will be a multiple telescope consisting of four separately mounted reflectors arranged on a north–south baseline.