All 11 Uses of
spectacle
in
Babbitt
- His face was babyish in slumber, despite his wrinkles and the red spectacle-dents on the slopes of his nose.†
Chpt 1 (definition 1)
- They argued windily with him, and he was cocky, and enjoyed the spectacle of his interesting martyrdom.†
Chpt 29 (definition 1) *
Uses with a very rare meaning:
- But most wonder-working of all was the donning of his spectacles.†
Chpt 1 (definition 2) *
- There is character in spectacles—the pretentious tortoiseshell, the meek pince-nez of the school teacher, the twisted silver-framed glasses of the old villager.†
Chpt 1 (definition 2)
- Babbitt's spectacles had huge, circular, frameless lenses of the very best glass; the ear-pieces were thin bars of gold.†
Chpt 1 (definition 2)
- He was tall, broad, thick; his gold-rimmed spectacles were engulfed in the folds of his long face; his hair was a tossed mass of greasy blackness; he puffed and rumbled as he talked; his Phi Beta Kappa key shone against a spotty black vest; he smelled of old pipes; he was altogether funereal and archidiaconal; and to real-estate brokerage and the jobbing of bathroom-fixtures he added an aroma of sanctity.†
Chpt 3 (definition 2)
- He was, to the eye, the perfect office-going executive—a well-fed man in a correct brown soft hat and frameless spectacles, smoking a large cigar, driving a good motor along a semi-suburban parkway.†
Chpt 3 (definition 2)
- He may be viewed to-night as a plump, smooth, pink, baldish, podgy goodman, robbed of the importance of spectacles, squatting in breast-high water, scraping his lather-smeared cheeks with a safety-razor like a tiny lawn-mower, and with melancholy dignity clawing through the water to recover a slippery and active piece of soap.†
Chpt 7 (definition 2)
- It was excessively new khaki; his rimless spectacles belonged to a city office; and his face was not tanned but a city pink.†
Chpt 11 (definition 2)
- Babbitt tried to be jovial; he worked at it; but he could find nothing to interest him in Overbrook's timorousness, the blankness of the other guests, or the drained stupidity of Mrs. Overbrook, with her spectacles, drab skin, and tight-drawn hair.†
Chpt 15 (definition 2)
- He was a thin, rustic-faced young man with gold spectacles and a bang of dull brown hair, but when he hurled himself into oratory he glowed with power.†
Chpt 16 (definition 2)
Definitions:
-
(1) (spectacle) a notable or unusual event that attracts attention
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(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus) The term spectacles is also used to refer to eyeglasses.