spyglass

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small portable telescope, especially a collapsible refracting telescope used at sea

   Among the goods from the wreck, Huck and Jim found books and a spyglass.

2. 2
   noun

   less commonly: a pair of binoculars

   The guide raised his spyglass to watch the distant birds.

A compound of spy + glass, with glass referring to an optical lens. The word originally named a compact telescope used to observe distant ships, land, or people.

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