Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Lamp?

\Lamp\, n.[OE. (with excrescent p), fr. F. lame, L. lamina. See {Lamina}.] A thin plate or lamina. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
\Lamp\, n. [F. lampe, L. lampas, -adis, fr. Gr. ?, ?, torch, fr. ? to give light, to shine. Cf. {Lampad}, {Lantern}.] 1. A light-producing vessel, instrument or apparatus; especially, a vessel with a wick used for the combustion of oil or other inflammable liquid, for the purpose of producing artificial light. 2. Figuratively, anything which enlightens intellectually or morally; anything regarded metaphorically a performing the uses of a lamp. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. --Ps. cxix. 105. Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared. --Cowper. 3. (Elec.) A device or mechanism for producing light by electricity. See {Incandescent lamp}, under {Incandescent}. {[AE]olipile lamp}, a hollow ball of copper containing alcohol which is converted into vapor by a lamp beneath, so as to make a powerful blowpipe flame when the vapor is ignited. --Weale. {Arc lamp} (Elec.), a form of lamp in which the voltaic arc is used as the source of light. {D["e]bereiner's lamp}, an apparatus for the instantaneous production of a flame by the spontaneous ignition of a jet of hydrogen on being led over platinum sponge; -- named after the German chemist D["o]bereiner, who invented it. Called also {philosopher's lamp}. {Flameless lamp}, an aphlogistic lamp. {Lamp burner}, the part of a lamp where the wick is exposed and ignited. --Knight. {Lamp fount}, a reservoir for oil, in a lamp. {Lamp jack}. See 2d {Jack}, n., 4 (l) & (n) . {Lamp shade}, a screen, as of paper, glass, or tin, for softening or obstructing the light of a lamp. {Lamp shell} (Zo["o]l.), any brachiopod shell of the genus Terebratula and allied genera. The name refers to the shape, which is like that of an antique lamp. See {Terebratula}. {Safety lamp}, a miner's lamp in which the flame is surrounded by fine wire gauze, preventing the kindling of dangerous explosive gases; -- called also, from Sir Humphry Davy the inventor, {Davy lamp}. {To smell of the lamp}, to bear marks of great study and labor, as a literary composition.