taillight

[ teyl-lahyt ]

noun
  1. a light, usually red, at the rear of an automobile, train, etc.

Origin of taillight

1
First recorded in 1835–45; tail1 + light1
  • Also called tail lamp .

Words Nearby taillight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use taillight in a sentence

  • He smoked in silence, keeping his eyes on the red glow of the taillight ahead of them.

    The Penal Cluster | Ivar Jorgensen (AKA Randall Garrett)
  • Rand kept Cabot's taillight in sight until the broker swung into his drive and put his car in the garage.

    Murder in the Gunroom | Henry Beam Piper
  • The little red taillight went out and on four times in quick succession.

    Pee-wee Harris | Percy Keese Fitzhugh
  • Ted heard Loring Blade start his pickup and watched the red taillight bobbing down their driveway.

    Double Challenge | James Arthur Kjelgaard
  • Tom's first impulse was to run after the automobile, the red taillight of which glowed through the blackness like a ruby eye.

British Dictionary definitions for tail-light

tail-light

noun
  1. other names for rear light

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