Collimate

//ˈkɒlɪmeɪt// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To focus into a narrow beam or column; to adjust a focusing device so that it produces a narrow beam.

    "Lead bricks were placed around the radioactive source so that the escaping gamma rays would be limited to a collimated beam rather than filling the lab."

  2. 2
    adjust the line of sight of (an optical instrument) wordnet
  3. 3
    make or place parallel to something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aligncorrespondequatefollowline upmatch

Example

More examples

"You need to collimate the telescope."

Etymology

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin collimātus, perfect passive participle of collīmō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), itself originating from a misreading of collīniō, collīneō.

More for "collimate"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.