headlight
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of headlight
Explanation
If you’re driving a car at night, you’re using your car’s headlights to light up the road in front of you. Headlights are the eyes of a car or train, beaming light to help you see what is ahead. The headlight is an important part of an automobile, and without it you could only drive at night where there are lots of street lights. On unlit roads, a deer might jump in front of your car and just stand there — staring into the light from your headlights. That’s where the expression “like a deer in headlights” comes from, and it means being really still after a shock, like you’re frozen in place.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tucker’s other innovations included a padded dashboard for safety, four-wheel independent suspension and a cyclops-like center headlight that rotated with the steering wheel to improve visibility around corners.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
The RAC motoring organisation, which has campaigned on headlight dazzle, has repeatedly asked its members for their views.
From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026
Additionally, please take good care to notice signage regarding segments of the highway where daytime headlight use is required.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025
The scooter was fitted with a small front headlight, and rear red light.
From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025
The same logic works in reverse; if you know how much light a train’s headlight emits, you can measure its apparent brightness and calculate the train’s distance from you.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
