SPECTATOR

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does spectator mean? 

• SPECTATOR (noun)
  The noun SPECTATOR has 2 senses:

1. a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

2. a woman's pump with medium heel; usually in contrasting colors for toe and heel

  Familiarity information: SPECTATOR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPECTATOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

looker; spectator; viewer; watcher; witness

Context example:

sky watchers discovered a new star

Hypernyms ("spectator" is a kind of...):

beholder; observer; perceiver; percipient (a person who becomes aware (of things or events) through the senses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spectator"):

browser (a viewer who looks around casually without seeking anything in particular)

bystander (a nonparticipant spectator)

cheerer (a spectator who shouts encouragement)

eyewitness (a spectator who can describe what happened)

gawker (a spectator who stares stupidly without intelligent awareness)

motion-picture fan; moviegoer (someone who goes to see movies)

ogler (a viewer who gives a flirtatious or lewd look at another person)

looker-on; onlooker (someone who looks on)

playgoer; theatergoer; theatregoer (someone who attends the theater)

rubberneck; rubbernecker (a person who stares inquisitively)

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

starer (a viewer who gazes fixedly (often with hostility))

peeper; Peeping Tom; voyeur (a viewer who enjoys seeing the sex acts or sex organs of others)

Derivation:

spectate (be a spectator in a sports event)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A woman's pump with medium heel; usually in contrasting colors for toe and heel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

spectator; spectator pump

Hypernyms ("spectator" is a kind of...):

pump (a low-cut shoe without fastenings)

 Context examples 

So intent had the squires, both combatants and spectators, been on the matter in hand, that all thought of the steep bank and swift still stream had gone from their minds.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was at this time that a diversion came to the spectators.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill—gentlemen, ostlers, and servant maids—joined in a general shriek of “Fire!”

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

There was some sympathetic laughter on his entrance among the front benches of well-dressed spectators, as though the demonstration of the students in this instance was not unwelcome to them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When he finished Black Baruk the man flew across the outer ring as well as the inner, and fell among the spectators.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Rochester then turned to the spectators: he looked at them with a smile both acrid and desolate.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The garret windows and tops of houses were so crowded with spectators, that I thought in all my travels I had not seen a more populous place.

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

Maria, she also thought, acted well, too well; and after the first rehearsal or two, Fanny began to be their only audience; and sometimes as prompter, sometimes as spectator, was often very useful.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Quite alarmed at being the only recipient of this untimely visit, and the only spectator of this portentous behaviour, I exclaimed again, Pray tell me, Miss Mowcher, what is the matter! are you ill?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

While the Perseids likely will draw large crowds of spectators around the world, those based in the United States will have the chance to see an even bigger astronomical event next week when the U.S. will witness the first total solar eclipse across the country in almost 100 years.

(Perseid Meteor Shower Provides Opening Act for Solar Eclipse, VOA News)