Dictionary

hold a mirror to en · VERB

Meanings

1. To reflect; to represent and by resemblance provide insight into.
   • They must be natural as theatre is meant to hold a mirror to reality and represent it. 2013, Making Sense of Hamlet!:
   • Bradley points towards this modern renaissance in history because he sees that history does not hold a mirror to the past, but embraces it through the critical understanding of the historian. 2012, Peter Johnson, Collingwood's The Idea of History:
   • Or, as Dr. Gregory Stevenson suggests, do the supernatural trials and tribulations of the Winchesters appeal because they merely hold a mirror to the more mundane terrors we all face every day? 2009, Leah Wilson, In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural, page 39:
   • Such representations, which hold a mirror to the oppressed person's reality, arise from problem posing and dialogues that allow the meek to grasp the dimensions of their oppression. 2010, J. P. Singh, Globalized Arts: The Entertainment Economy and Cultural Identity:
   • If these children have been their parents' gifts and teachers, then these stories shared by struggling but resilient parents is a gift to all of us. They hold a mirror to our own perceptions and to the influence—good and bad—that we can have on those we are trying to help. 2011, Reginald Nettles, Rochelle Balter, Multiple Minority Identities, page 44:
2. To elucidate; to make explicit some aspect of.
   • My daughter Valerie, who has a unique ability to hold a mirror to my behavior, helped me see reality. 2009, Miriam Neff, From One Widow to Another: Conversations on the New You, page 38:
   • All a facilitator can do is hold a mirror to the group. 2012, Merianne Liteman, Sheila Campbell, Jeffrey Liteman, Retreats That Work, page 143:
   • To speak "truth to power" should not be considered negative: to hold a mirror to society, even a mirror that embodies the biases and anguish of its creator, is not a negative act. 2005, Omar Swartz, In Defense of Partisan Criticism, page 55:
   • In defining its media role, according to Hugh Greene, director-general of the BBC, the channel should continue to strive “to hold a mirror to what was going on in contemporary British society.” 2013, Gillian I. Leitch, Donald E. Palumbo, C.W. Sullivan III, Doctor Who in Time and Space:
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hold, mirror.
   • Hold a mirror to the pet's nose. If no condensation appears, the animal is probably dead. 2011, David Borgenicht, Joshua Piven, Ben H. Winters, The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Man Skills:

Forms