MEANING
To make a beam’s rays approximately parallel or align an optical system’s components along the intended axis.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- collimate a beam
- collimate a telescope
On the page
The technician collimated the beam before taking the measurement.
She collimated the telescope after the shipment disturbed its alignment.
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- collimate
- Past tense
- collimated
- Past participle
- collimated
- Present participle
- collimating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- collimate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are collimating
- Present perfect
- have/has collimated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been collimating
- Past
- collimated
- Past continuous
- was/were collimating
- Past perfect
- had collimated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been collimating
- Future
- will collimate
- Future continuous
- will be collimating
- Future perfect
- will have collimated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been collimating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: collimate; collimates; collimated; collimated; collimating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: collimates.
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