total internal reflection

/T OW1 T AH0 L IH0 N T ER0 N AH0 L R AH0 F L EH0 K SH AH0 N/

noun

1
A phenomenon where light, instead of passing into a medium of a lower refractive index and refracting away from the normal, is completely reflected by the boundary between the two media because it approaches at an angle greater than or equal to the critical angle.
2
An instance of this phenomenon.

Synonyms

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