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jack-o'-lantern

American  
[jak-uh-lan-tern] / ˈdʒæk əˌlæn tərn /

noun

  1. 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.

  2. a commercially made lantern resembling this.

  3. any phenomenon of light, as a corona discharge or an ignis fatuus.

  4. a poisonous luminescent orange fungus, Omphalotus olearius, often found in clusters at the base of hardwood tree stumps.

jack-o'-lantern British  

noun

  1. a lantern made from a hollowed pumpkin, which has holes cut in it to represent a human face

  2. a will-o'-the-wisp or similar phenomenon

"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

Etymology

Origin of jack-o'-lantern

First recorded in 1655–65

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.