light
- adjective
- /laɪt/
- Specialized
- In phonetics class, we learned about how a light vowel is articulated without stress on the syllable.
Examples
-
The teacher explained that in some languages, the light syllables are crucial for proper pronunciation.
-
When reading poetry, I often find that a light touch on certain syllables adds to the overall rhythm.
-
I just need enough for my lighter.
-
Don't even try to turn light brown shoes into dark brown shoes by using a dark brown cream.
-
His face was flashing light and dark like neon.
Fiction book (1996) -
-Light, gravity, time.
-
Office air wore me out, every staple, every badly lit, Xerox-fumed breath I took.
Fiction book (1996) -
In that same instant, Halovic yanked the pull ring out of the lighter and flattened himself against the embankment.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
A vowel or syllable with little stress when spoken
Parts of words that you say without strong stress
Antonyms
Idioms
To keep your talents or good work hidden instead of showing them to others
To start something that quickly becomes exciting or causes strong debate
Compounds
- Specialized
A constant speed at which light travels in empty space, about 300,000 kilometres per second
A device with red, yellow and green lights that controls cars and people at street intersections
- Specialized
The distance light travels in one year in space, about 9.46 trillion kilometers
A light that flashes to warn people, for example on ambulances or at crossings
- Specialized
A fighter in the weight class between middleweight and heavyweight
- Specialized
A type of light from the sun that you cannot see and that can burn your skin
- Specialized
A red light at the back of a car that comes on when you press the pedal to stop
A red, yellow and green sign on a report or screen that shows a project's status
- Jargon
A quiet feeling of God's presence inside a person that guides their choices
A glass bulb with a thin wire that makes light when electricity passes through it
- Specialized
A small device that makes light when electricity flows through it, for example in traffic lights and screens
- Archaic
A lamp that makes very bright light when electricity jumps between two metal rods
A piece of clear material, like a camera lens, that reduces light passing through it
- Specialized
A tool that uses light and lenses to make tiny things like cells look larger
- Specialized
The amount of light you can see coming from a lamp or the sun in one direction
How Stressed
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Etymology
Light for a short or unstressed syllable comes from the 'not heavy' idea — a light syllable is small and not strong. So a light syllable gets less stress in speech.