lamppost

American  

[lamp-pohst] / ˈlæmpˌpoʊst /

noun

1. a post, usually of metal, supporting a lamp that lights a street, park, etc.

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lamppost British  

/ ˈlæmpˌpəʊst /

noun

1. a post supporting a lamp, esp in a street

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Etymology

Origin of lamppost

First recorded in 1780–90; lamp + post ¹

Example Sentences

Since its creation more than a century ago, the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting has been in the lamppost business and little else.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Smacking his head on a lamppost while chasing one woman and ogling another, Damien is transported to a parallel universe in which women don’t just run the world, the nature of the sexes has flipped.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Reflecting on the relationship between journalists and politicians, Mr Grimason told Talkback someone once described it as akin to that of a dog and a lamppost.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2024

Nearby, a plaque attached to a lamppost read “1968 Strikers Lane” — a small reminder, like so many others in this city, of the father taken from him when he was a boy.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2023

“Even I never dreamed of Magic like this. We’re in a world where everything, even a lamppost, comes to life and grows. Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamp-post grows from?”

From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis