reflection

Definitions

1. noun

   The act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.

2. noun

   The property of a propagated wave being thrown back from a surface (such as a mirror).

3. noun

   Something, such as an image, that is reflected.

   Examples

   • The dog barked at his own reflection in the mirror.
   • A body of black that carried no reflection.
4. noun

   Careful thought or consideration.

   Examples

   • After careful reflection, I have decided not to vote for that proposition.
   • But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.
   ≈cogitation≈contemplation≈deliberation≈mulling≈musing +7 more
5. noun

   A representative manifestation or outcome of a condition, trend or trait.

   Examples

   • Our recent results are a reflection of the progress we've made as a team.
   • Zuckerberg said last month that the name change was a reflection of how much Facebook had evolved.
6. noun

   Used to make an implied criticism.

   Example

   • It is a reflection on his character that he never came back to see them.
7. noun

   The process or mechanism of determining the capabilities of an object at run-time.

   Example

   • DynamicMBeanFacade uses Java's reflection API to introspect the managed resource and discover data type information for attributes.
8. noun

   The folding of a part; a fold.