Polarizer
noun ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 One who polarizes; one who divides a group or community into two extremes.
"a polarizer of opinions"
- 2 Any device that produces polarized light.
"When the polarizers are aligned in the same direction, they block the same state of polarization, i.e. they both block horizontally polarized light, and both let the vertically polarized light through. The second polarizer therefore has no effect on the light. When the polarizers are aligned perpendicular to one another, one will block the horizontally polarized light and the other will block vertically polarized light — no light at all gets through the pair!"
Example
More examples"When the polarizers are aligned in the same direction, they block the same state of polarization, i.e. they both block horizontally polarized light, and both let the vertically polarized light through. The second polarizer therefore has no effect on the light. When the polarizers are aligned perpendicular to one another, one will block the horizontally polarized light and the other will block vertically polarized light — no light at all gets through the pair!"
Etymology
From polarize + -er.
Related phrases
More for "polarizer"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.