LIGHTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lighter mean? 

• LIGHTER (noun)
  The noun LIGHTER has 3 senses:

1. a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire

2. a device for lighting or igniting fuel or charges or fires

3. a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals)

  Familiarity information: LIGHTER used as a noun is uncommon.

• LIGHTER (verb)
  The verb LIGHTER has 1 sense:

1. transport in a flatbottom boat

  Familiarity information: LIGHTER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIGHTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance used to ignite or kindle a fire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

igniter; ignitor; lighter

Hypernyms ("lighter" is a kind of...):

fuel (a substance that can be consumed to produce energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lighter"):

firelighter ((a piece of) a substance that burns easily and can be used to start a coal or coke fire)

kindling; punk; spunk; tinder; touchwood (material for starting a fire)

punk (substance that smolders when ignited; used to light fuses (especially fireworks))

Derivation:

light (cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A device for lighting or igniting fuel or charges or fires

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

igniter; ignitor; light; lighter

Context example:

do you have a light?

Hypernyms ("lighter" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lighter"):

cigar lighter; cigarette lighter; pocket lighter (a lighter for cigars or cigarettes)

fuse; fusee; fuze; fuzee; primer; priming (any igniter that is used to initiate the burning of a propellant)

friction match; lucifer; match (lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction)

match (a burning piece of wood or cardboard)

Derivation:

light (cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

barge; flatboat; hoy; lighter

Hypernyms ("lighter" is a kind of...):

boat (a small vessel for travel on water)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lighter"):

dredger (a barge (or a vessel resembling a barge) that is used for dredging)

houseboat (a barge that is designed and equipped for use as a dwelling)

pontoon ((nautical) a floating structure (as a flat-bottomed boat) that serves as a dock or to support a bridge)

scow (a barge carrying bulk materials in an open hold)

Norfolk wherry; wherry (sailing barge used especially in East Anglia)

Derivation:

lighter (transport in a flatbottom boat)

• LIGHTER (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Transport in a flatbottom boat

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lighter" is one way to...):

transport (move something or somebody around; usually over long distances)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

lighter (a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals))

lighterage (the transportation of goods on a lighter)

lighterage (the fee charged for carrying goods in lighters)

 Context examples 

The room was growing lighter; without taking his eyes from Mina's face, Dr. Van Helsing motioned me to pull up the blind.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

An effort even yet lighter might have made her their friend.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Earlywood is more porous than latewood, and often lighter in color.

(Earlywood, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

Thermal escape occurs only for lighter molecules, such as hydrogen.

(Mars Mission Sheds Light on Habitability of Distant Planets, NASA)

This discovery is a major success for the CARMENES project, which was designed specifically to look for planets around lighter stars.

(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)

People with two copies of these particular variants (1 in over 1,000 people) were on average 2.5 kg lighter than people without the variants and had a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

(Discovery of genetic variants that protect against obesity and type 2 diabetes could lead to new weight loss medicines, University of Cambridge)

This creates the distinctive swirls of darker and lighter material that are so prominent they can be seen from Earth.

(NASA Mission Reveals Origins of Moon's 'Sunburn', NASA)

It's the least dense form of ice and lighter than water.

(Ganymede may harbor 'club sandwich' of oceans and ice, NASA)

A condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes become yellow, urine darkens, and the color of stool becomes lighter than normal.

(Jaundice, NCI Dictionary)

I had hoped that lighter hands than mine would help to mould her character, and that a baby-smile upon her breast might change my child-wife to a woman.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)