mercury-vapor lamp
- noun
- /ˈmɜrkjʊri-ˈveɪpər læmp/
- Specialized
:
lámpara de vapor de mercurio
- The stadium was brightly lit by mercury-vapor lamps, creating a vivid atmosphere for the night game.
Examples
-
For an "off the wall" example of this defocusing effect on blue light, try viewing a hologram with a mercury vapor lamp.
Blog text (7) -
Mercury-vapor lamps illuminated the walk on either side, as well as the strip of grass edged in boxwood that passed as landscaping.
Fiction book (1998) -
On farms across the Midwest and Great Plains, and on ranch after ranch throughout the American West, blaring mercury vapor lamps on tall poles come on automatically at dusk and shine boldly all night.
Academic text (2007) -
In the dark parking lot, the glow from the mercury-vapor lamp made it easy to see where we were walking.
-
Many streetlights use mercury-vapor lamps because they emit a bright, bluish light that enhances visibility.
Synonyms
1
4.3
An electric lamp that gives light like the sun for tanning or to help low mood
1
6.7
A lamp that makes light when electricity passes between two metal points inside a gas
A lamp with a quartz tube that gives very bright light and ultraviolet rays used to kill germs
A lamp that makes light like the sun for medical or beauty treatment
A lamp that makes light by passing electricity between two metal parts inside a glass tube
A lamp that makes light when electricity passes through gas in a glass tube
How Bright
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
3.6
12
4.4
451
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
mercury-vapor + lamp
The meaning — a lamp that produces light by passing current through vaporized mercury — is directly built from the constituents 'mercury' + 'vapor' (vaporized mercury) and 'lamp' (a light source). This is a standard noun–noun technical compound specifying the type of lamp and follows transparent compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Mercury-vapor lamp was named for how it makes 'light': electricity passes through mercury turned into vapor inside the lamp, creating a bright, bluish glow. That's why the name means a lamp that uses mercury gas to produce 'light'.