noun
-
a device, consisting of a light source and a reflecting surface behind it, that projects a powerful beam of light in a particular direction
-
the beam of light produced by such a device
Etymology
Origin of searchlight
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.
Ms. Kuin looks for Diogenes not with a lamp but a searchlight, straining to see his influence everywhere—even in places it is very hard to detect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
The task is a bit like discerning a field of fireflies around a central, massive searchlight.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2024
Using sound like a searchlight, they patrol the chilly depths.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
But her searchlight also finds figures who are perhaps less than household names.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
A searchlight revealed a boy halfway up the anchor chain of a batdeship.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
