glasses

English

Half rim glasses

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlæsɪz/
• Rhymes: -ɑːsɪz

Noun

glasses

1. plural of glass
   • 1810, Thomas Williamson, East India Vade-Mecum..., page 323:

     Ladies are usually conveyed about Calcutta, or any where for short distances, in a kind of palanquin, called a boҫhah... Its deep shape, and its seat, much resemble the [English sedan chair]; but having two doors, one on each side, with one window in front, as well as a small one behind, all furnished with Venetians and glasses, give it, in those respects, some claim to alliance with the [chariot].

Noun

glasses pl (plural only)

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

     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

• aviator glasses
• birth control glasses
• birth-control glasses
• cooling glasses
• eclipse glasses
• flyaway glasses
• glacier glasses
• glassesed
• glassesless
• glasshole
• granny glasses
• Groucho glasses
• Harry Potter glasses
• hipster glasses
• I lost my glasses
• John Lennon glasses
• Kanye glasses
• look through rose-colored glasses
• look through rose-tinted glasses
• modesty glasses
• Mr. Magoo glasses
• musical glasses
• nerd glasses
• nose glasses
• opera glasses
• Oxford glasses
• pair of glasses
• pinch-nose glasses
• prescription glasses
• problem glasses
• reading glasses
• rose-colored glasses
• rose-coloured glasses
• rose-tinted glasses
• safety glasses
• scissors-glasses
• shooting glasses
• smart glasses
• sunglasses
• wear rose-colored glasses

Translations

plural of "glass" — see glass

spectacles — see spectacles

Verb

glasses

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of glass

See also

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

Further reading

• Category:glasses on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• gasless, sagless

Middle English

Noun

glasses

1. plural of glas