spectacles

A plural-only noun with an old-fashioned ring. It always takes a plural verb (her spectacles were on the table), and a single item is counted as a pair of spectacles, never a spectacle. In current writing it can sound dated or deliberately genteel. That makes it a better fit for a period novel or a fond portrait of a grandparent than for an optician's leaflet.

An ordinary count noun made plural: one grand show, several grand shows, and the same holds for the embarrassing kind of scene. The spelling collides with the word for eyeglasses, which has no singular of its own. When that word modifies another noun it drops the s, so a spectacle case holds eyewear, not a pageant. Context, and a verb agreeing with many shows, tells the two apart.

Cricket slang built on a pun: the standard term for two ducks in one match is a pair, and spectacles are themselves a pair. Like the eyewear word, it is plural-only and takes a plural verb. Batters are said to collect or bag spectacles. The word belongs to commentary and dressing-room banter, while a sober match report would more likely say he made a pair.