strobe light

American  

[strohb lahyt] / ˈstroʊb ˌlaɪt /

noun

plural

strobe lights

1. a lamp capable of producing extremely short, brilliant bursts of light and used for various purposes, such as photographing rapidly moving objects or to create special lighting effects, as in a discotheque or at a rock concert.

2. stroboscope.

3. the light produced by such a lamp, occurring in short, brilliant bursts.

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strobe light Scientific  

1. A lamp that produces very short, intense flashes of light by means of an electric discharge in a gas. The ability of strobe lights to “freeze” the motion of rapidly moving objects by making them visible for only a fraction of a second makes them very useful in photography and in measuring vibration and other types of high-speed motion.

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Other Word Forms

• strobe lighting noun
• strobe-light adjective

Example Sentences

The flashes can also be used as a strobe light to make “movies” of molecules responding to, say, a blast of ordinary laser light.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 18, 2023

In a converted former mint in Berlin on Saturday, crowds danced in a blaze of strobe light as a rapper hollered Ukrainian lyrics to punchy beats.

From Reuters • Feb. 25, 2023

Before the audience has its bearings, “Hell Is for Children” is blaring meaninglessly onto a set that is meant to be “modern, post-war Verona” but looks more like Stalingrad under a disco strobe light.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2022

We see these warriors, 20 years after the formation of the group, all dressed in white, under a strobe light, doing a rave-style dance workout.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022

My mom, sitting near Hector on the bed, dodges to the left to avoid being whacked by her strobe light phone.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden