navigation light
1
3.6
- noun
- /ˈnævɪˌɡeɪʃən laɪt/
- Specialized
:
luz de navegación
- At midnight, a cutter came up close aboard, an officer hailed us in English, and told us to douse our navigation lights.
- a red navigation light
Examples
-
Nalaway had decorated the lounge with strings of cargo soaps and blinking navigation lights.
Fiction book (2000) -
Mac doused his navigation lights and turned Ariadne a hundred and eighty degrees onto the reciprocal course at eighteen knots.
Fiction book (1995) -
Suddenly, the navigation lights on the dark 747 flash on and hold.
Fiction book (1996) -
Mac called to him that they should wait ten minutes, put on their navigation lights, and proceed to anchor in Piraeus.
Fiction book (1995) -
Navigation lights on.
-
Three days later at sea, days of bright sunshine at twelve knots and eighteen in darkness, not showing navigation lights, the port engine gave up the ghost.
Fiction book (1995) -
Air speed and altitude drop. EXT. RAPISTEIN AIR FIELD - NIGHT Spotters find Air Force One's navigation lights visible in the sky, descending from the distant darkness.
Fiction book (1997) -
The pilot relied on the aircraft's navigation lights to maintain the proper course during the night flight.
-
As the boat drifted in the fog, the navigation lights helped the crew determine their location and direction.
-
Before takeoff, the engineer checked each navigation light on the aircraft to ensure they were functioning properly.
Synonyms
3
5.8
A light on a boat that shows its position and direction at night
Antonyms
How Visible
65
1.8
7
3.2
- Specialized
1
3.6
274
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'navigation' (relating to route/position) + 'light' (a lamp or signal) — i.e. a light used for navigation or to show position/direction. This noun–noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE’s basic meaning (though technical details like specific colors may require extra domain knowledge).
Etymology
Navigation light comes from the simple idea of a navigation light fixed on a ship or plane so others can see where it is and which way it faces. Because the red and green lamps show a vehicle's 'position' and 'direction' at 'night' or in bad weather, the phrase now means the small safety lights that help others find and avoid it.