/keuh luy"deuh skohp'/ , n.
1. an optical instrument in which bits of glass, held loosely at the end of a rotating tube, are shown in continually changing symmetrical forms by reflection in two or more mirrors set at angles to each other.
2. a continually changing pattern of shapes and colors.
3. a continually shifting pattern, scene, or the like: The 1920s were a kaleidoscope of fads and fashions.
[ 1817; kal ( ós ) beautiful + eîdo ( s ) shape + -SCOPE ]