glasses

glasses

English

Half rim glasses

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlæsɪz/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlasɪz/, /ˈɡlɑːsɪz/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːsɪz

Noun

glasses

1. plural of glass

glasses pl (plural only)

1. Spectacles, frames bearing two lenses worn in front of the eyes.
2. Field glasses; binoculars.
   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, OCLC 1029993343:

     He had his Zeiss glasses in his hand. "I focused it before it got over the trees," said he.

Usage notes

• A sight-improving lens for a single eye is a monocle.
• Though confusion is unlikely, clarity as to quantity is improved by using the expressions "a pair of glasses" (or "a pair of eyeglasses"). When they are being counted, the “pair of” is required: "(however many) pair(s) of eyeglasses.”

Synonyms

• (spectacles): eyeglasses (US), specs, bioptikon

Derived terms

• cooling glasses
• Groucho glasses
• hipster glasses
• John Lennon glasses
• Kanye glasses
• Mr. Magoo glasses
• nerd glasses
• reading glasses
• safety glasses
• sunglasses

 

Translations

plural of "glass" — see glass

spectacles — see spectacles

Verb

glasses

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of glass

See also

• bifocals
• contact lens
• monocle
• pince-nez
• shades
• varifocals

Further reading

• glasses on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• gasless, sagless

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Middle English

Noun

glasses

1. plural of glas