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Eyewear vs Glasses - What's the difference?

eyewear | glasses |

As nouns the difference between eyewear and glasses

is that eyewear is a vision aid or similar device worn over the eyes, such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, or protective goggles while glasses is .

eyewear

English

Noun

(-)
  • A vision aid or similar device worn over the eyes, such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, or protective goggles.
  • *
  • * 1974 Oct. 14, " Wise Owl Club inducts two," St. Petersburg Times / Manatee Times , p. 3 (retrieved 1 Sep 2010):
  • Use of safety eyewear by Jones saved his sight when he was holding a chisel, another employe lifted up a hammer to hit the chisel and accidentally struck Jones in the nose and safety glasses.
  • * 1988 July 4, Anastasia Toufexis et al.'', " Health & Fitness: Do Your Shades Do the Job?," ''Time :
  • ANSI divides sunglasses into three categories: fashion spectacles that shield eyes from only 70% of UV-B and less than 60% of UV-A; everyday eyewear that screens out 95% of UV-B and between 60% and 92% of UV-A; and special-purpose glasses that absorb almost 99% of ultraviolet rays.

    References

    *

    glasses

    Noun

    (head)
  • (pluralonly) spectacles, frames bearing two lenses worn in front of the eyes
  • Usage notes

    * A sight-improving lens for a single eye is a monocle. * Though confusion is unlikely, clarity as to quantity is improved by using the expressions "a pair of glasses" (or "a pair of eyeglasses") or "(however many) pairs of eyeglasses".

    Synonyms

    * (spectacles) eyeglasses (US), specs, bioptikon

    Derived terms

    * John Lennon glasses * sunglasses

    See also

    * bifocals * contact lens * monocle * pince-nez * shades * varifocals