SPECTACLES

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does spectacles mean? 

• SPECTACLES (noun)
  The noun SPECTACLES has 1 sense:

1. (plural) optical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision

  Familiarity information: SPECTACLES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPECTACLES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(plural) optical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

eyeglasses; glasses; specs; spectacles

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 

Oh! Mr. Frank Churchill, I must tell you my mother's spectacles have never been in fault since; the rivet never came out again.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Even those who live in the City must wear spectacles night and day.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

She put up her spectacles, shut the Bible, and pushed her chair back from the table.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“No?” said my aunt, taking off her spectacles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The markings are quite definite and there are distinctive pale "spectacles" around the eyes.

(Keeshond, NCI Thesaurus)

So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I kept, among other little necessaries, a pair of spectacles in a private pocket, which, as I observed before, had escaped the emperor’s searchers.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The old man nodded as I entered the room, and he pushed his spectacles far up on his bald forehead.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some do not, and that is trying, observed Aunt March, looking over her spectacles at Jo, who sat apart, rocking herself, with a somewhat morose expression.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He was a tall man, full-bearded, with spectacles, one glass of which had been knocked out.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)