binoculars

British  

/ baɪ-, bɪˈnɒkjʊləz /

plural noun

1. Also called: field glasses.  an optical instrument for use with both eyes, consisting of two small telescopes joined together

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Explanation

Birdwatchers often use binoculars to get a better look at their feathered friends. When you look through binoculars, far-off things appear much closer. Binoculars are like a telescope for both eyes at the same time — they make it possible to see distant objects more clearly. Sailors, hikers, tourists, and soldiers all occasionally use binoculars, and so do some audience members at the opera, who use special small binoculars called "opera glasses." The noun comes from an adjective, binocular, which means "having two eyes," or "involving both eyes," from the Latin bini, "two by two" and ocularis, "of the eye."

Example Sentences

Binoculars or a telescope will help if you have them, and unlike with solar eclipses, which are dangerous to view directly, lunar eclipses won't damage your eyes as the Moon's reflected light isn't bright enough.

From BBC • Sep. 5, 2025

Binoculars help level up your wildlife sightings, particularly in Alaska, so after forgetting them the first time around, we knew we weren’t making that mistake again.

From Salon • Jul. 20, 2025

Binoculars and mobile phone cameras were pointed at the batter’s box.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2025

Binoculars in hand, they listened carefully to the comments of Philippe Rance and Patrick Suiro, two amateur ornithologists who have made the Père-Lachaise their new playground.

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2022

Binoculars, microscopes—it would take us a long time to learn how to make glass as clear and flawless as those crystals.

From Space Prison by Godwin, Tom