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SPECTACLES
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(plural) optical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision
Synonyms:
eyeglasses; glasses; specs; spectacles
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spectacles" is a kind of...):
optical instrument (an instrument designed to aid vision)
Meronyms (parts of "spectacles"):
bridge; nosepiece (the link between two lenses; rests on the nose)
Domain usage:
plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spectacles"):
bifocals ((plural) eyeglasses having two focal lengths, one for near vision and the other for far vision)
goggles ((plural) tight-fitting spectacles worn to protect the eyes)
lorgnette (eyeglasses that are held to the eyes with a long handle)
pince-nez (spectacles clipped to the nose by a spring)
dark glasses; shades; sunglasses ((plural) spectacles that are darkened or polarized to protect the eyes from the glare of the sun)
Holonyms ("spectacles" is a part of...):
frame (the framework for a pair of eyeglasses)
Context examples:
I instance this to show the sensitiveness of my nervous organization at the time, and how unused I was to spectacles of brutality.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
From his spats to his gold-rimmed spectacles he was a Conservative, a churchman, a good citizen, orthodox and conventional to the last degree.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Your grammar is excellent, Professor Hilton informed him, staring at him through heavy spectacles; but you know nothing, positively nothing, in the other branches, and your United States history is abominable—there is no other word for it, abominable.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
In the evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said: Go, Snow-white, and bolt the door, and then they sat round the hearth, and the mother took her spectacles and read aloud out of a large book, and the two girls listened as they sat and spun.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Then the green man fitted spectacles for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion, and even on little Toto; and all were locked fast with the key.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
For my mother had no use of her spectacles—could not put them on.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
She darted a hopeful glance at me, when I said “Agnes”; but seeing that I looked as usual, she took off her spectacles in despair, and rubbed her nose with them.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
To her great relief and surprise, the old gentleman only threw his spectacles onto the table with a rattle and exclaimed frankly, You're right, girl, I am!
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A voice, Here he is, sir! and an inoffensive little person in spectacles, struggling violently, was held up among a group of students.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She peered at me over her spectacles, and then she opened a drawer and fumbled among its contents for a long time, so long that my hopes began to falter.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
