compound eyenoun [ C ]
uk/ˌkɒm.paʊnd ˈaɪ/us/ˌkɑːm.paʊnd ˈaɪ/specializedan eye made of a large number of parts, each with a separate lens, as found in insects
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The eye & surrounding area
- aqueous humour
- ciliary muscle
- epiretinal membrane
- eyeball
- eyelash
- eyelid
- fovea
- glassy
- hooded
- infraorbital
- iris
- lacrimal
- lens
- lid
- oculomotor
- optic nerve
- stare
- suspensory ligament
- vitreous humour
- wink
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Examples from literature
- All grown-up insects have compound eyes, though not many have as large ones as the dragon fly.
- Each big eye is really a cluster of little eyes, rather like the "compound eyes" of insects.
- It has two simple, and two sets of compound eyes.
- The head is remarkable for its large globular compound eyes, its short bristle-like feelers, and its very strong mandibles which bite up the bodies of the victims.
- We do not know how they hear, nor how they see through their compound eyes, and our ignorance concerning the majority of their senses still further increases the difficulty, which so often arrests us, of interpreting their actions.