0 present participle of refract --
1 When water or glass, etc. refracts light or sound, etc., it causes it to change direction or to separate when it travels through it: --
Refracting telescopes can come in many different configurations to correct for image orientation and types of aberration.
Five times, the firm built the largest refracting telescopes in the world.
This telescope was the largest refracting telescope at that time.
The difficulties with the impractical metal mirrors of reflecting telescopes led to the construction of large refracting telescopes.
It consists of two observatory buildings housing an 11 inch (28 cm) and 16 inch (41 cm) aperture refracting telescope.
In contrast, the play of colours in opal is caused by light refracting from ordered microscopic silica spheres within its physical structure.
High power is useful in penetrating buildings, diffracting around hills, and refracting in the dense atmosphere near the horizon for some distance beyond the horizon.
Suppose a doubly refracting mineral section so placed that it is extinguished; if now is rotated through 45 degrees it will be brightly illuminated.
