candle
23
8.8
- noun
- /ˈkændl/
- Archaic
:
vela (unidad antigua)
- Before modern lighting, many homes relied on a candle to illuminate the dark evenings.
- foot-candles
- standard candles
They were in the Milky Way and that gave you a candle, a standard candle to work with the Cepheid variables.
- They were in the Milky Way and that gave you a candle, a standard candle to work with the Cepheid variables.
- One of the favorite ways we have is known as the method of the standard candle.
Examples
-
Tana extended her arm over her book bag and let the candle slide into it.
Fiction book (1998) -
I'm not a religious man, but when they carted you off, I went out and lit a candle.
-
The wreath should have four candles around its periphery and a fifth candle in the center.
Blog text (27) -
Measurements were made in foot-candles, to a tenth of a foot-candle.
Academic text (2010) -
The old lighthouse used to measure light intensity using a candle to ensure ships could navigate safely.
-
In physics class, we learned that the candle was once the standard unit of luminous intensity.
Synonyms
1
7.4
A measure of how bright a light is based on one candle
1
9.5
A standard measure of how bright a light is, originally based on a candle
1
9.9
A measure of how bright a light is in one direction
1
6.5
A unit used to measure the brightness of a light source
A unit for measuring how bright a light is, using a candle as the standard
A former unit for how bright a light is, replaced by the candela
Idioms
- Informal
4
7.2
To work late at night and early in the morning so you become very tired
Compounds
- Specialized
1
9.5
A standard measure of how bright a light is, originally based on a candle
How Bright
Surface Forms
Etymology
Candle was once used as a unit of light because people compared brightness to a standard wax light, and this idea survives in the modern unit candela. So the 'candle' unit simply measured how much a light 'shines'.