light bulb
62
1.8
- noun
- /laɪt bʌlb/
:
bombilla
- Overhead light fixtures crackle as the light bulbs begin to glow.
- energy-efficient light bulb
- change a light bulb
- incandescent light bulb
We're going to change the light bulbs to red.
- We're going to change the light bulbs to red.
- You turn, you flip it and the light bulb turns on and off, right?
- I came to change all your light bulbs and install some stuff in your house.
- You find it stamped on your light bulbs.
- I can show you how to change a light bulb.
- A bulb or a light bulb far away looks less luminous than a light bulb close up.
- I like the fact that I don't have to know how light bulbs work at all.
- So it is a very bright white light bulb.
- He'd be like, oh shit, the light bulbs out, new room.
Examples
-
So the big question is, how has this light bulb lasted so long?
-
Behind Sheila, a single bare light bulb hung from a cord.
Fiction book (1993) -
We're going to change the light bulbs to red.
-
But if they touch, the light bulb turns on.
-
We're assuming that you have a broken light bulb in your house already.
-
So one option is to switch from regular light bulbs to LEDs.
-
The kitchen had no light bulb, and I had only the stove's blue flame to see by.
Fiction book (1995) -
Open wooden shelves stretched back into dimness where a single light bulb burned.
Fiction book (1995) -
The light bulb is an interesting and iconic reference point; the power of the commercial light bulb is indisputable.
Academic text (2015) -
She replaced the old light bulb with a new energy-efficient one.
Synonyms
166
1.3
A glass part of a lamp that makes light when electricity flows through it
31
1.1
A small glass lamp with a wire inside that makes light when electricity flows
12
4.4
A light bulb that makes light by a hot wire
9
2.0
A light that gets power from wires, often from a bulb
1
4.1
A light bulb that makes light by heating a thin wire inside glass
1
2.1
A glass bulb with a thin wire that makes light when electricity passes through it
1
1.7
A light that uses electricity to shine
How Bright
15
3.9
9
3.4
49
2.9
62
1.8
3
1.0
451
1.0
10
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'light bulb' is transparently derived from 'light' (brightness) + 'bulb' (a lamp/container with a filament); the compound denotes a bulb that produces light and follows a common noun+noun compositional pattern. This construction is cross-linguistically common and therefore a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The name light bulb comes from the object's shape: early electric lamps had a round glass part that looked like a plant bulb, with a small bright wire inside. That's why light bulb means 'an electric lamp'.