light
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: līt
ipa: /laɪt/
ipa: [laɪt]
ipa: [lɑjt]
ipa: [ɫɐɪt]
ipa: [ləjt]
ipa: [lɑɪt]
rhymes: -aɪt
homophone: lite
Forms: form: lights
form: lighting
form: lit
form: lit
form: lighted
form: lighted
form: light
form: light
form: lite
form: lighte
form: lyght
form: lyghte
form: licht
Etymology: From Middle English lighten, lihten, from Old English līehtan (“to light, to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *liuhtijaną, from *leuhtą + *-janą. Cognate with German leuchten (“to shine”).
Senses: examples: text: We lit the fire to get some heat.
synonyms: set
antonyms: extinguish
put out
quench
glosses: To start (a fire).
examples: text: She lit her last match.
text: if a thousand candles be all lighted from one
ref: 1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Iohn Lichfield and William Turner, […], →OCLC:
synonyms: word: ignite
word: kindle
word: conflagrate
word: alight
word: conflagrate
word: fire
word: fire up
word: ignite
word: inflame
word: kindle
word: light
word: light up
word: set ablaze
word: set afire
word: set aflame
word: set alight
word: set fire
word: set on fire
word: torch
antonyms: extinguish
put out
quench
glosses: To set fire to; to set burning.
examples: text: I used my torch to light the way home through the woods in the night.
text: 19th century', Frederic Harrison, The Fortnightly Review
One hundred years ago, to have lit this theatre as brilliantly as it is now lighted would have cost, I suppose, fifty pounds.
text: The Sun has set, and Vesper, to supply / His absent beams, had lighted up the sky.
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
text: It was lighted by a couple of windows, one of which favoured an intimate inspection of two chimney pots, and a diagonal section of the Town Hall clock.
ref: 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 7:
text: "Can I light you down to your cab?"
ref: 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 9:
synonyms: word: illuminate
word: light up
word: alight
word: belight
word: beshine
word: bright
word: enlighten
word: fire
word: illume
word: illuminate
word: illumine
word: illustrate
word: irradiate
word: light
word: lighten
word: light up
word: luster
word: lustrate
word: shed light on
glosses: To illuminate; to provide light for when it is dark.
examples: text: This soggy match will not light.
synonyms: word: catch fire
word: ignite
word: conflagrate
word: catch on fire
word: catch fire
word: combust
word: conflagrate
word: fire
word: go up in flames
word: go up in smoke
word: ignite
word: light
word: spunk
word: take fire
glosses: To become ignited; to take fire.
examples: text: His bishops lead him forth, and light him on.
ref: 1824, Walter Savage Landor, Imaginary Conversations: Richard I and the Abbot of Boxley:
glosses: To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light.
examples: text: Light the extra ball by amassing 500 million points in the wizard mode.
qualifier: pinball
glosses: To make (a bonus) available to be collected by hitting a target, and thus light up the feature light corresponding to that bonus to indicate its availability.
Derived terms: better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
better to light one candle than to curse the darkness
better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness
chain-light
highlight
kick the tires and light the fires
lightable
light a fire under
light off
light on
light one's hair on fire
light someone's fire
light the touch-paper
light-up
light up
light upon
light up the tote
mislight
overlight
prelight
relight
unlight
uplight
Related terms: belight
inlight