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refract

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
re·fract  (r-frkt)
tr.v. re·fract·ed, re·fract·ing, re·fracts
1. To deflect (light, for example) from a straight path by refraction.
2. To alter by viewing through a medium: "In the Quartet reality is refracted through a variety of eyes" Elizabeth Kastor.
3. Medicine To determine the refraction of (an eye, for example).

[Latin refringere, refrct-, to break up : re-, re- + frangere, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]

refract
Verb
to cause light, heat, or sound to undergo refraction [Latin re- back + frangere to break]
refractive adj
refractor n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.refract - subject to refraction; "refract a light beam"
optics - the branch of physics that studies the physical properties of light
subject - cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to; "He subjected me to his awful poetry"; "The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills"; "People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation"
2.refract - determine the refracting power of (a lens)
ascertain, determine, find out, find - establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; "find the product of two numbers"; "The physicist who found the elusive particle won the Nobel Prize"

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Nor does the thin atmosphere refract the sun's rays or diffuse its light as upon Earth.
 
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