Nearby Words

Spotlights

[spot-lahyt] Origin

spot·light

[spot-lahyt] noun, verb, -light·ed or -lit, -light·ing.
noun
1.
a strong, focused light thrown upon a particular spot, as on a small area of a stage or in a television studio, for making some object, person, or group especially conspicuous.
2.
a lamp for producing such a light.
3.
a brilliant light with a focused beam, mounted on the side of an automobile and used for illuminating objects not within range of the headlights.
4.
the area of immediate or conspicuous public attention: Asia is in the spotlight now.
verb (used with object)
5.
to direct the beam of a spotlight upon; light with a spotlight.
6.
to make conspicuous; call attention to: Newspapers spotlighted the story for a week.
7.
to hunt (animals) using a spotlight in order to temporarily blind or confuse them.

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Spotlights is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
verb (used without object)
8.
to hunt by using a spotlight.

Origin:
1910–15; spot + light1

spot·light·er, noun
un·spot·light·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

spotlight
1904, from spot (n.) + light (n.). Originally a theatrical equipment; fig. sense is attested from 1916. The verb is first recorded 1923.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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