01 n. Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkabl…
-
1.
Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkable or noteworthy sight; a show; a pageant; a gazingstock.“O, piteous spectacle? O, bloody times!” — Shak.
-
2.
A spy-glass; a looking-glass.[Obs.]“Poverty a spectacle is, as thinketh me, Through which he may his very friends see.” — Chaucer.
-
3.
An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.
-
4.
Fig.: An aid to the intellectual sight.“Shakespeare . . . needed not the spectacles of books to read nature.” — Dryden.
Syn.
Show; sight; exhibition; representation; pageant.