lighting
Americannoun
-
the act of igniting or illuminating.
the lighting of many candles; the annual lighting of the Christmas tree.
-
the arrangement of lights to achieve particular effects.
to work out the lighting for one's living room.
-
an effect achieved by the arrangement of lights.
Several critics praised the lighting of the play.
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the science, theory, or method of achieving particular effects by the use of lights.
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the way light falls upon a face, object, etc., especially in a picture.
noun
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the act or quality of illumination or ignition
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the apparatus for supplying artificial light effects to a stage, film, or television set
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the distribution of light on an object or figure, as in painting, photography, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lighting
First recorded before 1000; Middle English lightinge, Old English līhting; equivalent to light 1 + -ing 1
Vocabulary lists containing lighting
myPerspectives 10.1
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myPerspectives 9.2
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Theater - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Thomas C. Hase’s lighting played up the psychic differences between those two places.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The businessman filmed people making off with over six containers of lighting equipment the morning after the tremors, appealing for help on social media but to no avail.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
The transformation took 875 hours and included the installation of emerald-green silk wall hangings and new lighting.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
To determine what was causing the strange circular marches, the team tested several possible explanations, including magnetic fields and different types of lighting.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
She had come flying from the top of a yellow train car, the waning sun lighting her up like a stained-glass window.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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In recent weeks, the 63-year-old leftist has been dancing on stage at rallies, calmly strolling trade expos and attending Christmas tree lightings hand-in-hand with his wife.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
The organization emailed its millions of followers on Sunday, urging them to redouble their planned menorah lightings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
The resurgence of song has indeed been brightening the season, whether at tree lightings with lusty caroling or the rousing guest performance by the Northwell Health Nurse Choir at a concert Monday at Carnegie Hall.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
You might also like: Other Hanukkah celebrations include nightly lightings of menorahs at Union Market and the Wharf through Dec. 6, and a First Night of Hanukkah party at Metrobar in Edgewood on Nov. 28.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2021
I have just seen history made between the lightings of a cigarette, as it were.
From 54-40 or Fight by Hough, Emerson
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.