Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An observer of an event, especially a sports contest.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who looks on; an onlooker or eyewitness; a beholder; especially, one of a company present at a spectacle of any kind: as, the spectators of or at a game or a drama.
  • noun Synonyms Looker-on, onlooker, observer, witness, by-stander. A person is said to be a spectator at a show, a bullfight, a wrestling-match; one of the audience at a lecture, a concert, the theater; and one of the congregation at church.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who on; one who sees or beholds; a beholder; one who is personally present at, and sees, any exhibition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who observes an event; an observer.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a woman's pump with medium heel; usually in contrasting colors for toe and heel
  • noun a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin spectātor, from spectāre, to watch; see spectacle.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin spectātor, from frequentative verb spectō ("watch"), from speciō ("look at").

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Examples

  • "Tapper's breasts so perfectly resemble those of a young woman of 18 to 19 that even the male genitals which are also perfect do not fully remove the impression that the spectator is looking on a female."

    Amputations, acid gargles and ammonia rubs: Royal Navy surgeons' 1793-1880 journals revealed Maev Kennedy 2010

  • Until there are 3-D films where the spectator is completely immersed, it's still only masturbation, and we're a long way from that. alex

    Martin Scorsese Says Even Films Like Precious Should Be in 3D | /Film 2010

  • The role of spectator is no longer possible, -- we are all now perforce agents of history, which, rightly envisaged, is the process of the emergence of new forms and values of living.

    The Only Way to Save Civilization 1949

  • Clotilde, who was very expert at this sort of architecture, was obliged to remain with the children, whilst Marian and O'Brian walked on, for standing spectator is cold work in a March wind.

    Zoe: The History of Two Lives 1845

  • The eye of the spectator is disappointed by an irregular prospect of half-domes and shelving roofs: the western front, the principal approach, is destitute of simplicity and magnificence; and the scale of dimensions has been much surpassed by several of the Latin cathedrals.

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

  • Bourgeois drew on her childhood experiences for the rest of her life, and in 1974 created one of her most difficult sculptures (difficult for the spectator, that is), a big, lurid piece called Destruction of the Father, composed largely of what seem to be body parts.

    Louise Bourgeois obituary 2010

  • I am just a spectator, which is pretty hellish but does give me an overall view.

    The Clique 2010

  • "There was some shouting and shoving between them, but no punches," recalls a spectator, who said that Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey helped break up the altercation.

    McCain Hits Obama For Ayers Connection 2009

  • (Being a spectator is a felony in 20 states, a misdemeanor in 28, and legal only in Georgia and Hawaii.)

    Jamie Frevele: Bones Takes on Dogfighting. We All Should. 2008

  • RN: That's why the sports pages in the newspaper should be called the spectator sports pages.

    Talkin' Sports with Ralph Nader 2008

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