field-glass

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small portable telescope, often held in one hand, for viewing distant objects outdoors

   The officer raised his field-glass to inspect the riders on the ridge.

2. 2
   noun

   usually in the plural, a pair of binoculars intended for outdoor observation

   Through the field-glasses, she could distinguish the seabirds nesting on the cliff.

Formed in English from field + glass, with glass in its optical sense. Attested by the late eighteenth century for portable magnifying apparatus used outdoors or in military fieldwork; it later referred especially to compact binocular instruments. The forms field glass and field-glass have both been used.

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