strobe light

American  

[strohb lahyt] / ˈstroʊb ˌlaɪt /

noun

strobe lights plural

1. a lamp capable of producing extremely short, brilliant bursts of light and used for various purposes, such as photographing rapidly moving objects or to create special lighting effects, as in a discotheque or at a rock concert.

2. stroboscope.

3. the light produced by such a lamp, occurring in short, brilliant bursts.

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strobe light Scientific  

1. A lamp that produces very short, intense flashes of light by means of an electric discharge in a gas. The ability of strobe lights to “freeze” the motion of rapidly moving objects by making them visible for only a fraction of a second makes them very useful in photography and in measuring vibration and other types of high-speed motion.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• strobe-light
  adjective
• strobe lighting
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• strobe lights
  plural

Example Sentences

The flashes can also be used as a strobe light to make “movies” of molecules responding to, say, a blast of ordinary laser light.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 18, 2023

In a converted former mint in Berlin on Saturday, crowds danced in a blaze of strobe light as a rapper hollered Ukrainian lyrics to punchy beats.

From Reuters • Feb. 25, 2023

I left with a fog machine, a strobe light, rainbow colored light bulbs, and some books of artist writings, one titled “Failure,” the other, “Appropriation.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2022

We see these warriors, 20 years after the formation of the group, all dressed in white, under a strobe light, doing a rave-style dance workout.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022

Through the hole I can see Hector sitting in the middle of the bed, waving my mom’s phone/flashlight around like a strobe light.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden