Meanings
nounbinoculars pl (normally plural, singular binocular)
singular binocular
- pluralplural normallyA hand-held device consisting of a series of lenses and prisms, used to magnify objects so that they can be better seen from a distance, and looked at through both eyes.
1 more example
He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, gin, whiskey, vermouth and sherry, mixed with violin bows, a flute, a toppling pile of books, six volumes of Grove's Dictionary mingled with paperback thrillers, a guitar without any strings, a pair of binoculars, a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and apricot jam.
1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of MindSynonyms: binocs, binos, field glasses, opera glasses, spyglass
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA hand-held device consisting of a series of lenses and prisms, used to magnify objects so that they can be better seen from a distance, and looked at through both eyes.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(plural) an optical instrument designed for simultaneous use by both eyes
Similar
Broader
optical instrument
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Abbreviation of "binocular glass".
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans verkyker
- verkykerhand-held device for looking at a distance
Arabic مِنْظَار
- مِنْظَار (minẓār)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Basque prismatikoak
- prismatikoakhand-held device for looking at a distance
Bengali দূরবিন
- দূরবিন (durbin)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Bulgarian бино́къл
- бино́къл (binókăl)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Catalan binocles
- binocleshand-held device for looking at a distance
Chinese Mandarin 望遠鏡 /望远镜, 雙筒望遠鏡 /双筒望远镜
- 望遠鏡 /望远镜 (wàngyuǎnjìng)hand-held device for looking at a distance
- 雙筒望遠鏡 /双筒望远镜 (shuāngtǒng wàngyuǎnjìng)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Czech dalekohled
- dalekohledhand-held device for looking at a distance
Danish kikkert
- kikkerthand-held device for looking at a distance
Dutch verrekijker
- verrekijkerhand-held device for looking at a distance
Esperanto binoklo
- binoklohand-held device for looking at a distance
Estonian binokkel, binoklid
- binokkelhand-held device for looking at a distance
- binoklidhand-held device for looking at a distance
Finnish kiikari
- kiikarihand-held device for looking at a distance
French jumelles, jumelle
- jumelleshand-held device for looking at a distance
- jumellehand-held device for looking at a distance
German Fernglas, Feldstecher
- Fernglashand-held device for looking at a distance
- Feldstecherhand-held device for looking at a distance
Greek διόπτρες, κιάλια
- διόπτρες (dióptres)hand-held device for looking at a distance
- κιάλια (kiália)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Hebrew מִשְׁקֶפֶת
- מִשְׁקֶפֶת (mishkefet)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Hindi दूरबीन
- दूरबीन (dūrbīn)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Hungarian távcső, látcső
- távcsőhand-held device for looking at a distance
- látcsőhand-held device for looking at a distance
- messzelátóhand-held device for looking at a distance
Icelandic sjónauki, kíkir
- sjónaukihand-held device for looking at a distance
- kíkirhand-held device for looking at a distance
Indonesian teropong
- teroponghand-held device for looking at a distance
Irish gloiní, déshúiligh
- gloiníhand-held device for looking at a distance
- déshúilighhand-held device for looking at a distance
Italian binocolo
- binocolohand-held device for looking at a distance
Japanese 双眼鏡
- 双眼鏡 (sōgankyō)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Korean 쌍안경
- 쌍안경 (ssang'an'gyeong)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Latvian binoklis, tālskatis
- binoklishand-held device for looking at a distance
- tālskatishand-held device for looking at a distance
Lithuanian binoklis
- binoklishand-held device for looking at a distance
Malay teropong, keker
- teroponghand-held device for looking at a distance
- kekerhand-held device for looking at a distance
Māori karu whakatata
- karu whakatatahand-held device for looking at a distance
Norwegian Bokmål kikkert
- kikkerthand-held device for looking at a distance
Polish lorneta, lornetka
- lornetahand-held device for looking at a distance
- lornetkahand-held device for looking at a distance
Portuguese binóculo, binóculos
- binóculohand-held device for looking at a distance
- binóculoshand-held device for looking at a distance
Romanian binoclu
- binocluhand-held device for looking at a distance
Russian бино́кль
- бино́кль (binóklʹ)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Slovak ďalekohľad
- ďalekohľadhand-held device for looking at a distance
Spanish prismáticos, binoculares
- prismáticoshand-held device for looking at a distance
- binoculareshand-held device for looking at a distance
- gemeloshand-held device for looking at a distance
- anteojos prismáticoshand-held device for looking at a distance
- gemelos prismáticoshand-held device for looking at a distance
- largavistahand-held device for looking at a distance
Swedish kikare
- kikarehand-held device for looking at a distance
Tagalog duhansipat, largabista
- duhansipathand-held device for looking at a distance
- largabistahand-held device for looking at a distance
Thai กล้องสองตา, กล้องสนาม
- กล้องสองตา (glɔ̂ng-sɔ̌ɔng-dtaa)hand-held device for looking at a distance
- กล้องสนาม (glɔ̂ng-sà-nǎam)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Turkish dürbün, bakaç
- dürbünhand-held device for looking at a distance
- bakaçhand-held device for looking at a distance
Ukrainian біно́кль
- біно́кль (binóklʹ)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Urdu دُوربِین
- دُوربِین (dūrbīn)hand-held device for looking at a distance
Vietnamese ống nhòm, ống ngắm
- ống nhòmhand-held device for looking at a distance
- ống ngắmhand-held device for looking at a distance
- con mắt xahand-held device for looking at a distance
Welsh ysbienddrych, sbenglas
- ysbienddrychhand-held device for looking at a distance
- sbenglashand-held device for looking at a distance
Cite this entry
APA
binoculars. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/binoculars
MLA
“binoculars.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/binoculars. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “binoculars,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/binoculars.
Source: binoculars on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.