lamp

American  

[lamp] / læmp /

noun

1. any of various devices furnishing artificial light, as by electricity or gas.

2. a container for an inflammable liquid, as oil, which is burned at a wick as a means of illumination.

3. a source of intellectual or spiritual light.

   the lamp of learning.

4. any of various devices furnishing heat, ultraviolet, or other radiation.

   an infrared lamp.

5. a celestial body that gives off light, as the moon or a star.

6. a torch.

7. Slang. lamps, the eyes.

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verb (used with object)

1. Slang. to look at; eye.

idioms

1. smell of the lamp, to give evidence of laborious study or effort.

   His dissertation smells of the lamp.

lamp British  

/ læmp /

noun

1. 1. any of a number of devices that produce illumination

      an electric lamp

      a gas lamp

      an oil lamp

   2. ( in combination )

      lampshade

2. a device for holding one or more electric light bulbs

   a table lamp

3. a vessel in which a liquid fuel is burned to supply illumination

4. any of a variety of devices that produce radiation, esp for therapeutic purposes

   an ultraviolet lamp

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Other Word Forms

• lampless adjective

Etymology

Origin of lamp

1150–1200; Middle English lampe < Old French < Late Latin lampada, for Latin lampas (stem lampad- ) < Greek lampás lamp; akin to lámpē torch, lamp, lámpein to shine

Example Sentences

It had a ceiling fan and a reading lamp and a rug with a picture of a train track printed on it.

From Literature

Brought along a wagonload of fancy furniture—crystal lamps, horsehair sofas, and such.

From Literature

It's like a kaleidoscope, he thought, as the colors swirled in the light of his desk lamp.

From Literature

The back features a genie’s lamp resting on an open book and a feathered quill with an olive branch in the background—symbols of peace, knowledge and learning.

From The Wall Street Journal

Holding up a rechargeable lamp, he led us back the way he’d come, to a canoe farther up the shore, tied to a tree.

From Literature

Related Words

• flashlight
• light