v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Alighted ometimes Alit p. pr. & vb. n. Alighting. ] [ OE. alihten, fr. AS. ālīhtan; pref. ā- (cf. Goth. us-, G. er-, orig. meaning out) + līhtan, to alight, orig. to render light, to remove a burden from, fr. līht, leoht, light. See Light, v. i. ] 1. To spring down, get down, or descend, as from on horseback or from a carriage; to dismount. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To descend and settle, lodge, rest, or stop; as, a flying bird alights on a tree; snow alights on a roof. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To come or chance (upon). [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- + light. ] Lighted; lighted up; in a flame. “The lamps were alight.” Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Naut.) The lantern shown at night by a vessel at anchor. International rules of the road require vessels at anchor to carry from sunset to sunrise a single white light forward if under 150 feet in length, and if longer, two such lights, one near the stern and one forward. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Elec.) The light of an arc lamp. See arc lamp under lamp. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ }. (Eccl. Hist.) (a) A member of the conservative party in the Church of Scotland in the latter part of the 18th century. (b) Same as Burgher, n., 2. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To illuminate. [ Obs. ] Cowley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Blighting. ] [ Perh. contr. from AS. blīcettan to glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning “to blight” comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow pale, make pale, bleach. Cf. Bleach, Bleak. ] 1. To affect with blight; to blast; to prevent the growth and fertility of. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ This vapor ] blasts vegetables, blights corn and fruit, and is sometimes injurious even to man. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to mar essentially; to frustrate; as, to blight one's prospects. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seared in heart and lone and blighted. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be affected by blight; to blast; as, this vine never blights. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Mildew; decay; anything nipping or blasting; -- applied as a general name to various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric influences. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of blighting, or the state of being blighted; a withering or mildewing, or a stoppage of growth in the whole or a part of a plant, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which frustrates one's plans or withers one's hopes; that which impairs or destroys. [ 1913 Webster ]

A blight seemed to have fallen over our fortunes. Disraeli. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) A downy species of aphis, or plant louse, destructive to fruit trees, infesting both the roots and branches; -- also applied to several other injurious insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. A rashlike eruption on the human skin. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Causing blight. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. So as to cause blight. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Bude, in Cornwall, the residence of Sir G. Gurney, the inventor. ] A light in which high illuminating power is obtained by introducing a jet of oxygen gas or of common air into the center of a flame fed with coal gas or with oil. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The light of a candle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Never went by candlelight to bed. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physics, Optics) Light in which the phases of all electromagnetic waves at each point on a line normal to the direction of the the beam are identical. Coherent light is usually monochromatic, and the most common source of such light for practical uses is from a laser. The constant phase relations of coherent light allows the achievement of certain effects, such as holography, not possible with noncoherent light. The low degree of angular dispersion of coherent light beams also allows the use of such light in laser ranging, over distances as far as from the earth to the moon. [ PJC ]

Signals made by burning lights of different colors and used by vessels at sea, and in the life-saving service; -- named after their inventor. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. The eyes. [ Prov. Eng. ] Wright.

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A strong shutter, made to fit open ports and keep out water in a storm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. delit, OF. delit, deleit, fr. delitier, to delight. See Delight, v. t. ] 1. A high degree of gratification of mind; a high- wrought state of pleasurable feeling; lively pleasure; extreme satisfaction; joy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fool hath no delight in understanding. Prov. xviii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which gives great pleasure or delight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heaven's last, best gift, my ever new delight. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Licentious pleasure; lust. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Delighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Delighting. ] [ OE. deliten, OF. delitier, deleitier, F. délecter, fr. L. delectare to entice away, to delight (sc. by attracting or alluring), intens. of delicere to allure, delight; de- + lacere to entice, allure; cf. laqueus a snare. Cf. Delectate, Delicate, Delicious, Dilettante, Elicit, Lace. ] To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

Inventions to delight the taste. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To have or take great delight or pleasure; to be greatly pleased or rejoiced; -- followed by an infinitive, or by in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Love delights in praises. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I delight to do thy will, O my God. Ps. xl. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Delectable. ] Capable of delighting; delightful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Many a spice delightable. Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Endowed with delight. [ 1913 Webster ]

If virtue no delighted beauty lack. Shak.

Syn. -- Glad; pleased; gratified. See Glad. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With delight; gladly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who gives or takes delight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Highly pleasing; affording great pleasure and satisfaction. “Delightful bowers.” Spenser. “Delightful fruit.” Milton.

Syn. -- Delicious; charming. See Delicious.

-- De*light"ful*ly, adv. -- De*light"ful*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Giving delight; gladdening. -- De*light"ing*ly, adv. Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]

a. Void of delight. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>a. [ OF. delitos. ] Delightful. [ Obs. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Very pleasing; delightful. “Delightsome vigor.” Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye shall be a delightsome land, . . . saith the Lord. Mal. iii. 12.

-- De*light"some*ly, adv. -- De*light"some*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An electric or gas light suspended from the ceiling by a flexible cord or tube, allowing artificial light to be brought down from a chandelier nearer to a table or desk; a pendant; also, an electric light bulb in a small holder, which can be held in the hand or hung from a hook, and attached to a long electric cord, allowing light to be brought close to work in dark areas of a room.

[ From Thomas Drummond, a British naval officer. ] A very intense light, produced by turning two streams of gas, one oxygen and the other hydrogen, or coal gas, in a state of ignition, upon a ball of lime; or a stream of oxygen gas through a flame of alcohol upon a ball or disk of lime; -- called also oxycalcium light, or lime light. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is also applied sometimes to a heliostat, invented by Drummond, for rendering visible a distant point, as in geodetic surveying, by reflecting upon it a beam of light from the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Astron.) The sunlight reflected from the earth to the moon, by which we see faintly, when the moon is near the sun (either before or after new moon), that part of the moon's disk unillumined by direct sunlight, or “the old moon in the arms of the new.” [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

1. the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a lamp whose light is produced by passing an electric current through a light bulb, especially an incandescent lamp. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ Pref. en- + light. Cf. Enlighten. ] To illumine; to enlighten. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Which from the first has shone on ages past,
Enlights the present, and shall warm the last. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. en- + lighten: cf. AS. inlīhtan. Cf. Enlight. ] 1. To supply with light; to illuminate; as, the sun enlightens the earth. [ 1913 Webster ]

His lightnings enlightened the world. Ps. xcvii. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make clear to the intellect or conscience; to shed the light of truth and knowledge upon; to furnish with increase of knowledge; to instruct; as, to enlighten the mind or understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

The conscience enlightened by the Word and Spirit of God. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who enlightens or illuminates; one who, or that which, communicates light to the eye, or clear views to the mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. enlightening so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement.
Syn. -- edifying. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. tending to increase knowledge or dissipate ignorance; as, an enlightening glimpse of government in action. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. Act of enlightening, or the state of being enlightened or instructed. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. same as Aufklärung. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ After Prof. Niels R. Finsen (b. 1860), Danish physician. ] (Med.) Highly actinic light, derived from sunlight or from some form of electric lamp, used in the treatment of lupus and other cutaneous affections. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. the light of a fire (especially in a fireplace); as, lovers sitting together in the firelight. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (a piece of) a substance that burns easily and can be used to start a coal or coke fire. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a portable battery-powered electric lamp, small enough to be held in one hand; -- it is most commonly cylindrical, but other forms are also made. It is called in Britain a torch
Syn. -- torch. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. fliht, flyht, a flying, fr. fleógan to fly; cf. flyht a fleeing, fr. fleón to flee, G. flucht a fleeing, Sw. flykt, G. flug a flying, Sw. flygt, D. vlugt a fleeing or flying, Dan. flugt. √84. See Flee, Fly. ] 1. The act of flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation; mode or style of flying. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like the night owl's lazy flight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape danger or expected evil; hasty departure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. Matt. xxiv. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fain by flight to save themselves. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Lofty elevation and excursion; a mounting; a soaring; as, a flight of imagination, ambition, folly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Could he have kept his spirit to that flight,
He had been happy. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

His highest flights were indeed far below those of Taylor. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A number of beings or things passing through the air together; especially, a flock of birds flying in company; the birds that fly or migrate together; the birds produced in one season; as, a flight of arrows. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swift flights of angels ministrant. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a flight of fowl
Scattered winds and tempestuous gusts. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A series of steps or stairs from one landing to another. Parker. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A kind of arrow for the longbow; also, the sport of shooting with it. See Shaft. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Challenged Cupid at the flight. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a flight drawn home
E'er made that haste that they have. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The husk or glume of oats. [ Prov. Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. a trip made by or in a flying vehicle, as an airplane, spacecraft, or aeronautical balloon. [ PJC ]

9. A scheduled flight{ 8 } on a commercial airline; as, the next flight leaves at 8 o'clock. [ PJC ]

Flight feathers (Zool.), the wing feathers of a bird, including the quills, coverts, and bastard wing. See Bird. --
To put to flight,
To turn to flight, to compel to run away; to force to flee; to rout. --
to take a flight{ 9 }, to make a trip in an airplane, especially a scheduled flight{ 9 }. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

Syn. -- Pair; set. See Pair. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Taking flight; flying; -- used in composition. “Drowsy-flighted steeds.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Her.) Feathered; -- said of arrows. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Brewing) A horizontal vane revolving over the surface of wort in a cooler, to produce a circular current in the liquor. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a flighty manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being flighty. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flightness of her temper. Hawthorne.

Syn. -- Levity; giddiness; volatility; lightness; wildness; eccentricity. See Levity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The distance to which an arrow or flight may be shot; bowshot, -- about the fifth of a mile. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Within a flight-shot it inthe valley. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Half a flight-shot from the king's oak. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Fleeting; swift; transient. [ 1913 Webster ]

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook,
Unless the deed go with it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Indulging in flights, or wild and unrestrained sallies, of imagination, humor, caprice, etc.; given to disordered fancies and extravagant conduct; volatile; giddy; eccentric; slighty delirious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Proofs of my flighty and paradoxical turn of mind. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

A harsh disciplinarian and a flighty enthusiast. J. S. Harford. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of a row of lights in the front of the stage in a theater, etc., and on a level therewith. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before the footlights, upon the stage; -- hence, in the capacity of an actor. [ 1913 Webster ]