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lighthouse definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a tower with a light that gives warning of shoals to passing ships [syn: beacon, lighthouse, beacon light, pharos]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1622 1. a structure (as a tower) with a powerful light that gives a continuous or intermittent signal to navigators 2. beacon 3

Britannica Concise

Structure, usually with a tower, built onshore or on the seabed to signal danger or provide aid to seafarers. The first known lighthouse was the Pharos of Alexandria. The modern lighthouse dates only from the early 18th cent. Initially made of wood, these towers were often washed away in severe storms. The first lighthouse made of interlocking masonry blocks was built on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks reef, off Plymouth, England (1759). Interlocking masonry blocks remained the principal material of lighthouse construction until they were replaced by concrete and steel in the 20th cent. Modern construction methods have facilitated the building of offshore lighthouses. The most common illuminant is the electric-filament lamp. Refinements in lenses (e.g., the Fresnel lens) and reflectors made it possible to substantially increase the light's intensity. Radio and satellite-based navigation systems have greatly reduced the need for large lighthouses in sighting land.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a tower or other structure containing a beacon light to warn or guide ships at sea.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lighthouse Light"house` (-hous`), n.; pl.Lighthouses (-houz`[e^]z). A tower or other building with a powerful light at top, erected at the entrance of a port, or at some important point on a coast, to serve as a guide to mariners at night; a pharos.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lighthouses) A lighthouse is a tower containing a powerful flashing lamp that is built on the coast or on a small island. Lighthouses are used to guide ships or to warn them of danger. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

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