lightship

[ lahyt-ship ]

/ ˈlaɪtˌʃɪp /

noun

a ship anchored in a specific location and displaying or flashing a very bright light for the guidance of ships, as in avoiding dangerous areas. Abbreviation: LS

Words nearby lightship

lightplane, lightproof, lights, lights out, lightsaber, lightship, lightsome, lighttight, lightweight, lightwood, lign-

Origin of lightship

First recorded in 1830–40; light¹ + ship¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for lightship

We waked this morning still adrift off Port Royal Bar, where we had been tossing all night, near the lightship.
Letters from Port Royal|Various
She thanks him for the lightship as if it were a bunch of roses.
Ship-Bored|Julian Street
We sped by a lightship, the drifter having only one dim glim at her masthead.
The Secrets of a Kuttite|Edward O. Mousley
They shouted again and again, but the crew of the lightship, though they heard them, could not at first see them.
A Floating Home|Cyril Ionides

"There is a lightship on the starboard," said Louis, who was seated between his mother and Miss Blanche.
Asiatic Breezes|Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for lightship

lightship

/ (ˈlaɪtˌʃɪp) /

noun

a ship equipped as a lighthouse and moored where a fixed structure would prove impracticable

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