lampshade
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of lampshade
Explanation
A lampshade is a decorative cover that diffuses a lightbulb's brightness. Besides looking pretty, lampshades also prevent a light's glare from temporarily blinding you. If the naked bulb on your lamp casts a stark and blinding light, try putting a lampshade on top. This device does just what its name implies, shading the lamp's light in a pleasant way. Lampshades can be made of fabric, plastic, glass, or paper, and they come in an enormous variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Early 20th-century vaudeville performers created the enduring trope of a man with a lampshade on his head as the wacky life of the party.
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.
Lampshade company Seiko SCM scaled back its production and is seeking to revive Higashiosaka's manufacturing industry by converting part of its headquarters to shared working space.
From Reuters • Aug. 21, 2022
From the A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight EP, another grab bag of early lint-covered oddments, Lampshade has one of Beck’s first truly indelible melodies.
From The Guardian • Jul. 2, 2020
The group’s new album, “With a Lampshade On,” is due July 21 and was recorded live primarily during performances at the Troubadour in West Hollywood and San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2015
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.
