spectacle

noun

1. 1

   An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.

   The horse race was a thrilling spectacle.

   But scarcely was it set upon the table when the whole was carried off and plundered by the people who came to see the spectacle of the entertainment

   VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

   22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

2. 2

   Drama and excitement in a display, product, performance, exhibition, etc.

   I enjoyed her presentation, but it needs more spectacle.

3. 3

   An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.

   He made a spectacle out of himself.

4. 4

   The brille of a snake.

5. 5

   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.

6. 6

   Also a form of spectaclesAttributive form of spectacles.

   Some very interesting relics of Adam and Eve were shown us, that were brought from America; such as a fine-tooth comb, made of thorns, a part of a pair of leather spectacle frames, without glasses, a boot jack made of ebony, and a set of pawpaws of props, with the backs filled with a hard substance, resembling lava.

Forms

plural

spectacles