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Glite Dictionary
🔥 Lit up 🚌 To get off 🕊️ To land
to alight

to alight

2 4.1
To get off a vehicle, for example a bus or train
  • verb
  • /əˈlaɪt/
translation icon : bajar
  • An elderly couple were alighting, and here came Cooper.

Examples

  • As soon as the train stopped, passengers began to alight onto the platform.

  • As he alighted from the bus, straw and canvas bags in hand, he heard a voice from the crowd.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The figure alighted from the nearby woods and approached the home from the rear.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The passengers alighted and walked to a terrace.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • From the official vehicles, two men surrounded by security guards alighted and took places beside the honor guard.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • My fifteen-year-old mother alighted at the first stop, took the next train back, and went to bed.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Charlotte alighted at Walnut Tree Walk and went straight up to the door.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • By the time she alighted in Kensington, she was composed in her mind and had her story rehearsed in detail.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Marissa and Wendy again alighted from the car and ran to the overnight and emergency entrance opposite the main clinic building.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • A cloaked figure alighted and strode to the gatehouse, his cape flapping darkly behind him.

    Fiction book (1992)

Synonyms

to get off
vsto alight
170 2.5

To leave a vehicle or animal by stepping down

is broader and can also mean coming down from elevated places
to dismount
vsto alight
21 4.5

To get off a horse, bicycle, or vehicle

is wider, also applying to leaving elevated places or platforms
to hop out
vsto alight
  • Informal
11 2.8

To get out of a vehicle or place quickly with a small jump

is simply about getting down without requiring sudden energy
to hop off
vsto alight
  • Informal
6 3.1

Get off a bus or leave a call quickly

is neutral about speed and lightness, not necessarily quick
to alit
vsto alight
  • Archaic
9.6

To get down from a vehicle or animal, for example a horse

covers that action plus coming down from raised places too

Antonyms

to board
238 1.1

To get onto a vehicle like a train or plane

Phrasal Verbs

to alight on
2 6.8

To come down and settle lightly on something

to set alight
  • UK
1 4.2

To make something start burning

How Careful

to alight
2 4.1
to dismount
21 4.5
to get off
170 2.5
to jump off
82 3.2

Surface Forms

alight infinitive
alighted past
alighted past participle
alighting present participle
alights third person singular

Morphology

alight = light (semi-transparent) = a + light

Derived from 'a-' + 'light' (verb 'to alight/land'); the human-action sense ('get off') is a straightforward extension but depends on knowing the verbal sense.

Etymology

Alight as 'to get off' comes from the same idea of light meaning 'to come down', so when you alight from a bus or train you simply step down from it.