binoculars
Britishplural noun
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."
Vocabulary lists containing binoculars
It Takes Two: Bi
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Some Latin-based Words
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: bi-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cris Sarabia clutched his binoculars, craned his neck and envisioned a brighter future than what he saw at street level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
They haven’t gotten to the hard part of their schedule and the Connor Stalions and binoculars jokes are already sounding tired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Dozens of locals, some equipped with binoculars and long-lensed cameras, gathered near the air base's perimeter fence to watch the highly anticipated arrival of the jets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Latham said several search teams eventually converged on the same spot before inspectors used binoculars to identify the nest in a tree.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
We positioned a mirror on the “derrick” so that we could read the scale with binoculars.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
