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:
Despite the dim lighting and gentle music, I was nowhere near a state of Zen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The Lauensteins, who spent years scouring architectural salvage sites for items including wrought iron, hardware, lighting and doors to decorate their home, largely stewarded the transformation, with occasional guidance from interior designers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Sometimes it is the scoreboard lighting up after years of private-market compounding.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
With nothing more than a smartphone, a lighting kit and a fridge full of fresh meat, halal butcher Manny Malik from Wolverhampton had around two hundred people tuning into his session.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Together, we paid homage to the Virgencita, our Mother in Heaven, and our very own protector, by lighting five small candles, one for each of us.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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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
“Let’s rededicate ourselves to add more light in honor of those murdered in Sydney. Let’s come out proudly to public menorah lightings, and make sure to kindle our own menorahs at home.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
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
Menorah lightings grew in prominence during the Clinton years.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2020
The pile, when once charged, may be used for several hundred lightings.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 312, December 24, 1881 by Various
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.