Meaning

• An exciting or extraordinary scene, exhibition, performance etc.

  "The horse race was a thrilling spectacle."

• An embarrassing or unedifying scene or situation.

  "He made a spectacle out of himself."

• (usually in the plural) An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.

• An aid to the intellectual sight.

• A spyglass; a looking-glass.

• The brille of a snake.

• 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.