Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
light (noun)1.
a) something that makes vision possible
b) the sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors
c) electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength that travels in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles (300,000 kilometers) per second , specifically such radiation that is visible to the human eye
2.
a) - daylight
b) - dawn
3.
a source of light as
a) a celestial body
b) - candle
c) an electric light
4.
archaic - sight
5.
a) spiritual illumination
b) - inner light
c) - enlightenment
d) - truth
6.
a) public knowledge - facts brought to light
b) a particular aspect or appearance presented to view - saw the matter in a different light
7.
a particular illumination
8.
something that enlightens or informs - shed some light on the problem
9.
a medium (as a window) through which light is admitted
10.
a set of principles, standards, or opinions - worship according to one's lights Adrienne Koch
11.
a noteworthy person in a particular place or field - a leading light among current writers
12.
a particular expression of the eye
13.
a) - lighthouse beacon
b) - traffic light
14.
the representation of light in art
15.
a flame for something (as a cigarette) - lighting
1.
having light - bright a light airy room
2.
a) not dark, intense, or swarthy in color or coloring - pale
b) of colors medium in saturation and high in - lightness light blue
3.
of coffee served with extra milk or cream
intransitive verb
1.
to become light - brighten usually used with up her face lit up
2.
to take fire
3.
transitive verb
to ignite something (as a cigarette) - often used with up
1.
to set fire to
2.
a) to conduct with a light - guide
b) - illuminate rockets light up the sky
c) - animate brighten a smile lit up her face
1.
a) having little weight not heavy
b) designed to carry a comparatively small load - a light truck
c) having relatively little weight in proportion to bulk - aluminum is a light metal
d) containing less than the legal, standard, or usual weight - a light coin
2.
a) of little importance - trivial
b) not abundant - light rain a light lunch
3.
a) easily disturbed - a light sleeper
b) exerting a minimum of force or pressure - gentle a light touch
c) resulting from a very slight pressure - faint light print
4.
a) easily endurable - a light illness
b) requiring little effort - light work
5.
capable of moving swiftly or nimbly - light on his feet
6.
a) - frivolous light conduct
b) lacking in stability - changeable light opinions
c) sexually promiscuous
7.
free from care - cheerful
8.
less powerful but usually more mobile than usual for its kind - light cavalry a light cruiser
9.
a) made with a lower calorie content or with less of some ingredient (as salt, fat, or alcohol) than usual
b) having a relatively mild flavor
10.
a) easily digested - a light soup
b) well leavened - a light crust
11.
coarse and sandy or easily pulverized - light soil
12.
- dizzy giddy felt light in the head
13.
intended chiefly to entertain - light verse light comedy
14.
a) carrying little or no cargo - the ship returned light
b) producing goods for direct consumption by the consumer - light industry
15.
not bearing a stress or accent - a light syllable
16.
having a clear soft quality - a light voice
17.
being in debt to the pot in a poker game - three chips light
18.
- short light on experience
19.
- casual occasional a light smoker easy
1.
- lightly
2.
with little baggage - travel light
intransitive verb
1.
- dismount
2.
- settle alight a bird lit on the lawn
3.
to fall unexpectedly - usually used with on or upon
4.
to arrive by chance - happen usually used with on or upon lit upon a solution
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
light (adjective)1.
having little weight
SYNONIMS:
featherlight, feathery, lightweight, underweight, weightlessRELATED WORDS:
bantam, diminutive, little, minute, puny, small, smallish, tiny, undersized ( undersize), wee; flimsy, fragile, insubstantial; petite, slender, slight, slim, thinNEAR ANTONYMS:
big, considerable, extensive, goodly, great, handsome, huge, hulking, jumbo, king-size ( king-sized), large, largish, massive, overscale ( overscaled), oversize ( oversized), sizable ( sizeable), substantial, super, voluminous, whacking; bulky, cumbersome, unwieldy2.
involving minimal difficulty or effort
SYNONIMS:
cheap, downhill, effortless, facile, fluent, fluid, hands-down, light, painless, ready, royal, simple, smooth, snap, softRELATED WORDS:
idiotproof, mindless, quick, straightforward, unchallenging, uncomplicated; apparent, clear, clear-cut, distinct, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakableNEAR ANTONYMS:
burdensome, exhausting, onerous, oppressive, painful, stressful, taxing, troublesome; abstruse, complex, complicated, intricate, involved, knotty, problematic ( problematical), recondite3.
less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable
SYNONIMS:
exiguous, hand-to-mouth, light, niggardly, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, skimp, skimpy, slender, slim, spare, sparing, sparse, stingyRELATED WORDS:
deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, short, wanting; bare, bare-bones; least, littlest, lowest, mere, minimal, slightest; slight, small, thin; barren, infertile, sterile, unfruitful, unproductiveNEAR ANTONYMS:
adequate, enough, satisfactory, sufficient, tolerable; fat, fecund, fertile, fruitful, prolific, rich; lavish, luxuriant; blooming, bursting, flourishing, proliferative, swarming, teeming, thriving; excess, extra, surplus4.
moving easily
SYNONIMS:
agile, featly, feline, gracile, light, light-footed ( light-foot), lightsome, lissome ( lissom), lithe, lithesome, nimble, spryRELATED WORDS:
acrobatic, flexible, limber, loose-jointed, pliable, pliant, supple; adroit, deft, dexterous ( dextrous), light-fingered; fleet-footed, sure-footed; athletic, balletic, coordinatedNEAR ANTONYMS:
uncoordinated; inflexible, rigid, stiff; bungling, inept, maladroit5.
not harsh or stern especially in nature or effect
SYNONIMS:
balmy, benign, bland, delicate, light, mellow, mild, nonabrasive, soft, soothing, tenderRELATED WORDS:
calm, pacific, peaceful, placid, quiet, serene, tranquil; clement, compassionate, easy, lenient, merciful; buffering, cushioning, emollient, softening; sleek, slick, smoothNEAR ANTONYMS:
exquisite, fierce, intense, powerful, severe; forceful, forcible, savage, violent; roughened, rugged, strong; abrading, irritating, roughening; grim, gruff, rude, stiff; heavy-handed, oppressive, pitiless, tyrannical ( tyrannic)6.
resembling air in lightness
SYNONIMS:
ethereal, fluffy, gossamer, gossamery, lightRELATED WORDS:
cobwebby, dainty, delicate, diaphanous, downy, feathery, flimsy, gauzelike, gauzy, insubstantial, tender, wispy; buoyant, lighter-than-air, lightweight, rarefied, unsubstantial, vaporous, weightless; cumulous, pillowyNEAR ANTONYMS:
firm, solid, substantial; bulky, burdensome, cumbersome, hefty, hulking, lumpish, ponderous, unwieldy, weighty1.
to set (something) on fire
SYNONIMS:
enkindle, fire, ignite, inflame ( enflame), kindle, light, torchRELATED WORDS:
immolate; deflagrate; char, frizzle, scorch; bake, broil, cook; ash, cremate, incinerate, kiln; set off; brighten, illuminate, illumine, irradiate, lighten, radiate; scald, scathe, sear; reignite, rekindle, relight; bank, stokeNEAR ANTONYMS:
choke, smother, suffocate; stamp (out); blacken, darken, dim, dull, obscure2.
to supply with light
SYNONIMS:
bathe, beacon, emblaze, illume, illumine, irradiate, light, lightenRELATED WORDS:
brighten; beam, beat (down), radiate, shine; enhalo, halo; floodlight; highlight, spotlight; blaze, burn, fire, flame, glare, glow, ignite, incinerate, kindle; bedazzle, blind, daze, dazzle; gleam, glisten, glitterNEAR ANTONYMS:
dim, dull, obscure; cover, shroud, veil; douse ( dowse), extinguish, put out, quench, snuff (out)1.
filled with much light
SYNONIMS:
ablaze, alight, brightened, illuminated, illumined, light, lightsome, lit ( lighted)RELATED WORDS:
floodlit ( floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted ( spotlit); ignited, kindled; moonlit, shiny, sunlit, sunny, sunshinyNEAR ANTONYMS:
gloomy, somber ( sombre), sunless; cloudy, murky, obscured, shadowlike, shadowy; gray ( grey), leaden, pale; lightproof2.
lacking intensity of color
SYNONIMS:
dull, dulled, faded, light, pastel, washed-out, washyRELATED WORDS:
flat, lackluster, lusterless, matte ( mat matt); dim, faint; dirty, muddy; achromatic, colorless, uncolored, undyed, unpainted, unstained; blanched, bleached, washed, white, whitened; gray ( grey), indistinct, neutralNEAR ANTONYMS:
bright, brilliant, vibrant, vivid; chromatic, colored, dyed, painted, stained, tinged, tinted; colorful, motley, multicolored, polychromatic, polychrome, prismatic, rainbow, varicolored, variegated; flashy, garish, gaudy, loud, showy, splashy3.
of light complexion
SYNONIMS:
lightRELATED WORDS:
ashen, ashy, pale, paled, palish, pallid, pasty, peaked, peaky, sallow, sallowish, wan, white1.
to come to rest after descending from the air
SYNONIMS:
land, light, perch, roost, settle, touch downRELATED WORDS:
belly-land, crash-landNEAR ANTONYMS:
arise, ascend, climb, rise; float, fly, glide, plane, soar, wing; hang, hover2.
to come down from something (as a vehicle)
SYNONIMS:
descend, disembark, dismount, get down, lightRELATED WORDS:
deplane, detrainNEAR ANTONYMS:
board, climb (aboard), get in, mount; enplane ( emplane), entrain1.
the steady giving off of the form of radiation that makes vision possible
SYNONIMS:
blaze, flare, fluorescence, glare, gleam, glow, illumination, incandescence, luminescence, radiance, shineRELATED WORDS:
flash, glimmer, glint, glitter, scintillation, shimmer, sparkle, twinkle; daylight, moonlight, sunlight, sunshine; afterglow, aureole ( aureola), aurora, beam, halo, ray, shaft, streak, stream, sunbeam; glisten, gloss, luster ( lustre), polish, reflection, sheenNEAR ANTONYMS:
blackness, dark, darkness, dimness, dusk, duskiness, gloom, night, shadow2.
something that provides illumination
SYNONIMS:
beacon, illuminant, lampRELATED WORDS:
arc lamp ( arc light), candelabra, candelabrum, candle, chandelier, dark lantern, electric, flare, flash, flashbulb, flashcube, flashlight, floodlight, fluorescent lamp, gaslight, gasolier, girandole, headlight, incandescent lamp, klieg light ( kleig light), lantern, light bulb, lighthouse, lighting, sconce, spotlight, streetlight, sun lamp3.
a person who is widely known and usually much talked about
SYNONIMS:
big name, cause célèbre ( cause celebre), celeb, figure, icon ( ikon), light, luminary, megastar, name, notability, notable, notoriety, personage, personality, somebody, standout, star, superstar, VIPRELATED WORDS:
favorite, heartthrob, hero, idol; demigod, dignitary, eminence, immortal, monument, pillar, worthy; baron, big shot, bigwig, kahuna, magnate, mogul, nabob, panjandrumNEAR ANTONYMS:
lightweight, mediocrity; has-been4.
the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance
SYNONIMS:
aurora, cockcrow, dawning, day, daybreak, daylight, light, morn, morning, sun, sunrise, sunupRELATED WORDS:
daytime; forenoonNEAR ANTONYMS:
dark, darkness, midnight, night, nighttime; afternoon, midday; dusk, evening, eventide, gloaming, twilightto come upon unexpectedly or by chance
SYNONIMS:
chance (upon), encounter, find, hit (upon), light (on upon), meet, pitch (upon), stumble (on onto), tumble (upon)RELATED WORDS:
luck (out, on, onto, into); confront, face; discover, strike, turn up