beacon

[ bee-kuhn ]

/ ˈbi kən /

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noun

a guiding or warning signal, as a light or fire, especially one in an elevated position.

a tower or hill used for such purposes.

a lighthouse, signal buoy, etc., on a shore or at a dangerous area at sea to warn and guide vessels.

Navigation.

radio beacon.
a radar device at a fixed location that, upon receiving a radar pulse, transmits a reply pulse that enables the original sender to determine their position relative to the fixed location.

a person, act, or thing that warns or guides.

a person or thing that illuminates or inspires: The Bible has been our beacon during this trouble.

Digital Technology.

web beacon.
a low-energy radio transmitter at a specific location within a store, museum, office space, etc., which identifies nearby mobile devices in order to send them location-specific messages or collect location-specific data:There must be a beacon in the luggage aisle because I just got a coupon for this suitcase on my phone.

verb (used with object)

to serve as a beacon to; warn or guide.

to furnish or mark with beacons: a ship assigned to beacon the shoals.

verb (used without object)

to serve or shine as a beacon: A steady light beaconed from the shore.

OTHER WORDS FOR beacon

1 beam, buoy, pharos; signal fire; balefire.

See synonyms for beacon on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of beacon

First recorded before 950; Middle English beken, Old English bēacen “sign, signal”; cognate with Old Frisian bāken, Old Saxon bōkan, Old High German bouhhan

OTHER WORDS FROM beacon

bea·con·less, adjectiveun·bea·coned, adjective

Other definitions for beacon (2 of 2)

Beacon

[ bee-kuhn ]

/ ˈbi kən /

noun

a city in SE New York.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use beacon in a sentence

As a pulsar rotates, it sweeps a beam of radio waves around in space like a lighthouse, which appears to Earth as a radio beacon flickering on and off.
Why losing Arecibo is a big deal for astronomy|Maria Temming|December 4, 2020|Science News
To my astronomy-riddled graduate brain, Michael was a beacon to a promised land of scientific wonders without borders.
Five Scientists on the Heroes Who Changed Their Lives - Issue 93: Forerunners|Alan Lightman, Hope Jahren, Robert Sapolsky,|December 2, 2020|Nautilus
If someone with whom you’ve exchanged beacons reports a positive coronavirus test, the system alerts you so you can get checked yourself.
The 100 greatest innovations of 2020|Popular Science Staff|December 2, 2020|Popular-Science
Personal locator beacons employ satellites to transmit a help signal.
How to survive a snowstorm from inside your truck|Keith McCafferty|November 25, 2020|Popular-Science

Trebek and the show — the two difficult now to divorce — were a beacon of democratic ideals, flattening the world for all to consume.
Remembering Alex Trebek, The Man With All The Answers|Oliver Roeder|November 9, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
My heart cleaved the eternity of separation, beaconing my sad return to them, and I followed gladly, hope being not yet dead.
Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, Issue 2, February, 1864|Various
The light of a great love shone out of the wonderful deeps of them, beaconing the way clear into the haven of her heart.
Lochinvar|S. R. Crockett
They hold and send forth the beaconing flash from every intellectual and loving light-house in the world.
The Cassowary|Stanley Waterloo

British Dictionary definitions for beacon

beacon

/ (ˈbiːkən) /

noun

a signal fire or light on a hill, tower, etc, esp one used formerly as a warning of invasion

a hill on which such fires were lit

a lighthouse, signalling buoy, etc, used to warn or guide ships in dangerous waters

short for radio beacon

a radio or other signal marking a flight course in air navigation

short for Belisha beacon

a person or thing that serves as a guide, inspiration, or warning

a stone set by a surveyor to mark a corner or line of a site boundary, etc

verb

to guide or warn

(intr) to shine

Word Origin for beacon

Old English beacen sign; related to Old Frisian bāken, Old Saxon bōcan, Old High German bouhhan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

beacon

OTHER WORDS FOR beacon

Origin of beacon

OTHER WORDS FROM beacon

Other definitions for beacon (2 of 2)

Words related to beacon

How to use beacon in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for beacon

Word Origin for beacon