Meaning & use
binoculars
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
A device with two tubes and lenses that you look through to see faraway things with both eyes.
Grammar: Always plural in form and takes a plural verb: The binoculars are on the table.
Patterns
- a pair of binoculars
- look through binoculars
- use binoculars
She took her binoculars to the concert and watched the stage closely.
We saw a rare bird through the binoculars.
The binoculars were too heavy to carry all day.
Word forms
| plural | binoculars |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pair of binoculars
- He bought a pair of binoculars for his hiking trip.
- look through binoculars
- The sailor looked through binoculars to spot land.
- field binoculars
- Field binoculars are designed to be tough and waterproof.
- powerful binoculars
- Powerful binoculars let you see details from far away.
Synonyms and how they differ
- field glasses
- An older term for the same thing; it sounds old-fashioned today.
- opera glasses
- Smaller and weaker, used mainly in theaters, not for outdoor viewing.
Word family
- binocular adjective
- Relating to both eyes, as in binocular vision.
Commonly confused: binoculars or telescope?
binoculars vs telescope
A telescope usually has one tube and is held to one eye; binoculars have two tubes for both eyes.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'binoculars' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Binoculars' is plural and takes a plural verb, so 'He looked through the binoculars' is correct. 'A binoculars' is wrong because you say 'a pair of binoculars', and 'The binoculars is' uses a singular verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “binoculars”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.