arc lamp

American  

[ahrk lamp] / ˈɑrk ˌlæmp /

noun

arc lamps plural

1. Also, arc light. a lamp in which the light source is a high-intensity electric arc either between carbon rods in air or between metal electrodes in a xenon gas atmosphere enclosed in a quartz bulb.

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arc lamp Scientific  

1. An electric light in which a current produces light when an arc traverses the gap between two incandescent electrodes in a container filled with a gas, such as xenon. The two electrodes are usually made of carbon and are eventually vaporized by the heat they generate. Arc lamps are used to produce intense light (as in spotlights) and to produce heat for welding.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• arc lamps
  plural

Example Sentences

When he was 19, he produced an arc lamp and soon after secured patents on motors, generators and their regulators.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sun rises early along the mid-coast of Maine, and in November it can be as brilliant as an arc lamp, unkindly revealing imperfections and the wrinkles of age.

From Time Magazine Archive

He approached the lighthouse engineering firm of Chance Brothers Co., who said they could furnish a special high-intensity arc lamp operating through three lenses to give a single beam of 15,000,000,000 candlepower.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is not, of course, so convenient, and a further disadvantage of this pattern arc lamp is that the feeding process gradually alters the position and angle of the carbons.

From Optical Projection Part 1: Projection of Lantern Slides by Wright, Lewis

Over the central arch heraldic monsters pawed the stars; underneath an arc lamp hung resplendent; all three gates were open, and the drive beyond was a perspective of guiding lights.

From The Crime Doctor by Hornung, Ernest William