lightning rod

SEE SYNONYMS FOR lightning rod ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a rodlike conductor installed to divert lightning away from a structure by providing a direct path to the ground.

a person or thing that attracts and absorbs powerful and especially negative or hostile feelings, opinions, etc., thereby diverting such feelings from other targets: The unpopular supervisor served as a lightning rod for the criticism that should have been aimed at management.

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transliterate

to remove or destroy all traces of.

to change (letters, words, etc.), into corresponding characters of another alphabet or language.

to explain in terms that can be more easily understood.

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Origin of lightning rod

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Words nearby lightning rod

lightning arrester, lightning bug, lightning chess, lightning conductor, lightning never strikes twice in the same place, lightning rod, lightning stroke, lightplane, lightproof, lights, lights out

Example sentences from the Web for lightning rod

There he paused a moment for breath, and then climbed up the lightning-rod, hand over hand, and gained the roof.
The Rival Campers|Ruel Perley Smith
It was, therefore, not a lightning-rod at all, inasmuch as it was not grounded.
Makers of Electricity|Brother Potamian
And if the house was struck by lightning, he went out and put up a lightning-rod.
Stories of Invention|Edward E. Hale
I was up stairs in a second, and down the lightning-rod in another one, and shinning through the dark for the lean-to.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Or, the inao is a sort of lightning-rod conductor by which impending mischief may be led harmlessly away.
The Religions of Japan|William Elliot Griffis

Scientific definitions for lightning rod

lightning rod

A grounded metal rod placed high on a structure to conduct electrical current from a lightning strike directly to the ground, preventing the currents from injuring people or animals or from damaging objects. Lightning rods usually have a sharp, pointed tip, since electric lines of force are more highly concentrated around pointed objects, in this case increasing the attractiveness of the rod compared with other nearby objects. See also Saint Elmo's fire.

lightning rod

noun

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Origin of lightning rod

Words nearby lightning rod

Words related to lightning rod

Example sentences from the Web for lightning rod

Scientific definitions for lightning rod