English · Idiom Attested

under the microscope

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Under critical examination.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

dưới sự kiểm tra nghiêm ngặt

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Teleworking ideas under microscope

We all know that we are under the microscope after various events in the past, but I think we can control ourselves’.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Common questions

What does “under the microscope” mean?

Under critical examination.

Is “under the microscope” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time