Lighter

/ˈlaɪtɚ/ · noun

Meaning

A person who lights things..

Definitions by Sense

1. A person who lights things.
2. A device used to light things, especially a reusable handheld device for creating fire to light cigarettes.
3. A flat-bottomed boat for carrying heavy loads across short distances (especially for canals or for loading or unloading larger boats).
4. To transfer (cargo or passengers) to or from a ship by means of a lighter or other small vessel.
5. To transfer cargo or fuel from (a ship), lightening it to make its draft less or to make it easier to refloat.
6. comparative form of light: more light

Example Sentences

a lighter of lamps

Cigarette in mouth, he clutched his pockets in search of a lighter.

It is, of course, possible to work only to or from lighters in this way, and such working is not very general in this country, although a certain amount of such overside work is carried on in enclosed docks.

1900. Report of the Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War Department in the War with Spain. Vol. 7, pg. 3227. Troops and stores were lightered to the wharves inside the harbor by steamers Orizaba and Berkshire.

Beyond the station an extension descends at 1 in 30, the steepest gradient on the line, to Government Wharf, where cargo is lightered to and from ships at anchor in the harbour.

I prefer a lighter shade of pink.

What happened? You look 10 lbs. lighter!

I wish I'd thrown a lighter punch; he's out cold.

Synonyms for lighter

Antonyms for lighter

Related Words

Word Forms

• lighters
• lightering
• lightered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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