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lighthouse

American  
[lahyt-hous] / ˈlaɪtˌhaʊs /

noun

plural

lighthouses

  1. a tower or other structure displaying or flashing a very bright light for the guidance of ships in avoiding dangerous areas, in following certain routes, etc.

  2. either of two cylindrical metal towers placed forward on the forecastle of the main deck of a sailing ship, to house the port and starboard running lights.

lighthouse British  
/ ˈlaɪtˌhaʊs /

noun

  1. a fixed structure in the form of a tower equipped with a light visible to mariners for warning them of obstructions, for marking harbour entrances, etc

"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 lighthouse

First recorded in 1655–65; light 1 + house

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.

This makes the system behave like a flashing cosmic lighthouse.

From Science Daily

I walk a frozen Bothnian Gulf at Nallikari, an obscured lighthouse, a delinquent lifeguard stand, and makeshift saunas stand on white expanse like archaeology.

From Salon

“But he was kind of one of the lighthouses of integrity and common sense and spoke truth to power, but also got the powers to speak to one another.”

From The Wall Street Journal

They spin rapidly and generate intense magnetic fields, producing focused beams of radio waves that sweep across space like the beam of a lighthouse.

From Science Daily

“Seems to me we have lighthouses right here in the U.S.A.”

From Literature

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.