lighting
Americannoun
-
the act of igniting or illuminating.
the lighting of many candles; the annual lighting of the Christmas tree.
-
the arrangement of lights to achieve particular effects.
to work out the lighting for one's living room.
-
an effect achieved by the arrangement of lights.
Several critics praised the lighting of the play.
-
the science, theory, or method of achieving particular effects by the use of lights.
-
the way light falls upon a face, object, etc., especially in a picture.
noun
-
the act or quality of illumination or ignition
-
the apparatus for supplying artificial light effects to a stage, film, or television set
-
the distribution of light on an object or figure, as in painting, photography, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lighting
First recorded before 1000; Middle English lightinge, Old English līhting; equivalent to light 1 + -ing 1
Vocabulary lists containing lighting
myPerspectives 10.1
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myPerspectives 9.2
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Theater - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Hungary's government has called on businesses to use less electricity, banned outdoor fires and ordered decorative lighting on state buildings to be switched off to save energy.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Tyler Micoleau’s lighting tended toward dimness, which intensified the sense of dislocation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Big spending in a jittery bond market is roughly like lighting a match to check if the gas leak is real.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Forbes was also a public figure in a proposal to redevelop Fisherman’s Wharf, which envisions constructing a public plaza and adding a new overlook and lighting to the wharf’s inner lagoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
He asked for the lighting to be adjusted so that it wouldn’t cast a shadow on the board.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
In recent weeks, the 63-year-old leftist has been dancing on stage at rallies, calmly strolling trade expos and attending Christmas tree lightings hand-in-hand with his wife.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
The organization emailed its millions of followers on Sunday, urging them to redouble their planned menorah lightings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
Menorah lightings grew in prominence during the Clinton years.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2020
“Like Ntozake Shange, there is a movement there because there’s many personalities within her. So I created each of these lightings and approaches according to how I thought their personality was.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2018
The pile, when once charged, may be used for several hundred lightings.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 312, December 24, 1881 by Various
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.
