lighter
/ˈlaɪtə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈlaɪtər/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈlī-tər/ (ame, mw)
lighter — noun
- lightersingular
- lightersplural
1. a small object you carry in your hand that makes a small flame, used most often
a small object you carry in your hand that makes a small flame, used most often to light cigarettes, candles, or a barbecue.
Ezra clicked his lighter twice before the flame caught and lit the candle.
click + lighter for the action of using one
The shop sells cheap plastic lighters for two dollars each near the counter.
plastic lighter / cheap lighter common collocations
Aoi keeps a small silver lighter in her handbag for lighting birthday candles.
Airport security took away Andrés's lighter before he could board the plane.
Could I borrow a lighter? Mine has run out of fuel again.
- cigarette lighter
the full form; used when the type needs to be clear
- Zippo
brand name often used generically for a refillable metal lighter
文法句型
use a lighter to light something
用法筆記
Almost always countable; speakers say 'a lighter' or 'the lighter' rather than uncountable 'lighter'. Common everyday item, so the word appears in casual speech far more often than in formal writing.
常見錯誤
2. a wide, flat boat with no engine of its own, towed across the calm water of a po
a wide, flat boat with no engine of its own, towed across the calm water of a port to move heavy cargo between big ships and the dock.
Two lighters loaded with grain were towed slowly from the ship toward the dock.
passive: lighter + loaded with + cargo
The harbour used wooden lighters to bring cotton from cargo ships to the warehouse.
harbour / port + lighter typical setting
Élise watched a row of empty lighters drift back toward the eastern side of the bay.
Before deep-water docks were built, every box of tea reached London on a lighter.
文法句型
lighter + carrying / loaded with + goods
用法筆記
Specialist port-and-shipping term; rarely heard outside maritime, historical, or trade contexts. Distinguish from sense 1 (the lighting device) by surrounding words about ships, docks, or cargo.
lighter — verb
- lighterpresent simple I / you / we / they
- lighters3rd person singular
- lightering-ing form
- lighteredpast simple
1. to carry boxes, sacks, or other cargo across the water of a port using a flat ba
to carry boxes, sacks, or other cargo across the water of a port using a flat barge, often between a large ship and the shore.
Workers lightered the crates of tea from the anchored ship to the dock at dawn.
lighter + cargo + from / to construction
Coal was lightered ashore each morning before the trains arrived to collect it.
passive: be lightered + ashore / to + place
The company lightered timber across the harbour for nearly fifty years.
Amihan watched the dockworkers lighter heavy sacks of rice toward the warehouse.
文法句型
lighter + [cargo] + from / to + [place]
用法筆記
Highly specialist verb almost only seen in maritime, historical, or trade writing. Frequently passive ('was lightered to shore') because the focus is on the cargo, not the workers. Subject is usually a company, a crew, or workers.