jack-o'-lantern
Americannoun
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a hollowed pumpkin with openings cut to represent human eyes, nose, and mouth and in which a candle or other light may be placed, traditionally made for display at Halloween.
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a commercially made lantern resembling this.
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any phenomenon of light, as a corona discharge or an ignis fatuus.
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a poisonous luminescent orange fungus, Omphalotus olearius, often found in clusters at the base of hardwood tree stumps.
noun
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a lantern made from a hollowed pumpkin, which has holes cut in it to represent a human face
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a will-o'-the-wisp or similar phenomenon
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jack-o'-lantern
First recorded in 1655–65
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.
See Examples For:
“I’m David Pumpkins,” Hanks — dressed in a jack-o'-lantern suit — announced to cheers from the crowd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2022
Leaving the stem intact helps a jack-o’-lantern last.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2022
Rain falling on your jack-o’-lantern will invite every mold in the neighborhood to take up residency in or on it.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 19, 2022
He took a pink plastic jack-o’-lantern — bought years ago at 90% off — and turned the face around, then added a cheap flickering lightbulb and rope cord from Amazon to make a ceiling lamp.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
Zero's face looked like a jack-o'-lantern that had been left out too many days past Halloween—half rotten, with sunken eyes and a drooping smile.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
From jack-o'-lanterns glowing on porches to costumes ranging from the whimsical to the gory, Halloween is a time of playful scares, childhood memories and, of course, candy.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024
Another long-standing local Halloween destination is the field of jack-o’-lanterns that lie in wait at the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
I had gotten up early on that Saturday to hang orange streamers and balloons shaped like jack-o’-lanterns and black cats from my apartment walls.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022
Those jack-o’-lanterns don’t have to end up in the local landfill.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 31, 2022
That’s how I pictured her home: decorated with skeletons and bats and eerie jack-o’-lanterns all year long.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
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.
