spectacle
(noun) a blunder that makes you look ridiculous; used in the phrase āmake a spectacle ofā yourself
spectacle
(noun) an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale
spectacle
(noun) something or someone seen (especially a notable or unusual sight); āthe tragic spectacle of cripples trying to escapeā
Source: WordNet® 3.1
spectacle (plural spectacles)
An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.
An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.
(usually, in the plural) 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.
(figuratively) An aid to the intellectual sight.
(obsolete) A spyglass; a looking-glass.
The brille of a snake.
(rail) A frame with different coloured lenses on a semaphore signal through which light from a lamp shines at night, often a part of the signal arm.
• (exciting event): show; pageant
• (optical instrument): glasses, eyeglasses, specs
Source: Wiktionary
Spec"ta*cle, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. spectaculum, fr. spectare to look at, to behold, v. intens. fr. specere. See Spy.]
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. pl.
Definition: 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. pl.
Definition: Fig.: An aid to the intellectual sight. Shakespeare . . . needed not the spectacles of books to read nature. Dryden.
Syn.
– Show; sight; exhibition; representation; pageant.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
24 January 2025
(noun) a state of agitation or turbulent change or development; āthe political ferment produced new leadershipā; āsocial unrestā
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.