lamplighter

[ lamp-lahy-ter ]

/ ˈlæmpˌlaɪ tər /

noun

a person employed to light and extinguish street lamps, especially those burning gas.

a contrivance for lighting lamps.

QUIZZES

Can You Ace This Quiz About “Compliment” vs. “Complement”?

Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!

Question 1 of 11

“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.

True

False

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of lamplighter

First recorded in 1740–50; lamp + lighter¹

Words nearby lamplighter

lamper eel, lampern, lampers, lampion, lamplight, lamplighter, lampoon, lamppost, lamprey, lamprophony, lamprophyre

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for lamplighter

He engaged the lamplighter of the theatre to wear the ragpicker's costume for three weeks, so that it might be suitably dirty.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 89, May, 1875|Various
The lamplighter even, dropping jewels as he went, passed them by unheeded.
When Ghost Meets Ghost|William Frend De Morgan
The lamplighter was usually a tall man, a character, and his position was considered an important one.
Fifth Avenue|Arthur Bartlett Maurice
A lamplighter ran past Foma, overtook him, placed his ladder against the lamp post and went up.
Foma Gordyeff|Maxim Gorky

Up this I went like a lamplighter, keeping one eye on the corner of the building lest I should be followed.
My Adventures as a Spy|Robert Baden-Powell

British Dictionary definitions for lamplighter

lamplighter

/ (ˈlæmpˌlaɪtə) /

noun

(formerly) a person who lit and extinguished street lamps, esp gas ones

mainly US and Canadian any of various devices used to light lamps

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