Definition of "confocal" [con•fo•cal]

• Having the same focus or foci. Used of a lens. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The principal techniques in cell biologists' toolboxes are known as confocal and wide-field microscopy."
• "However, both fused and non-fused receptors translocated to the same endocytic compartment, as determined by dual-label confocal analysis of cells co-expressing both proteins and transferrin co-localization."
• "The scientists will study the building blocks of these synapses - specialized proteins - using genetics, molecular biology and a technique known as confocal microscopy."