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limelight

 [lahym-lahyt]   Example Sentences Origin

lime·light

   [lahym-lahyt]
noun
1.
Theater.
a.
(formerly) a lighting unit for spotlighting the front of the stage, producing illumination by means of a flame of mixed gases directed at a cylinder of lime and having a special lens for concentrating the light in a strong beam.
b.
the light so produced.
c.
Chiefly British. a lighting unit, especially a spotlight.
2.
the center of public attention, interest, observation, or notoriety: He seems fond of the limelight.
Origin:
1820–30; lime1 + light1

Related forms
lime·light·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Limelight is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
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Example Sentences
  • As they receded from view, health took centre stage and continued to hog the limelight for almost a year.
  • At home excuses are rustled up to keep him in the limelight.
  • Many vibrant, purely private companies have sprung up despite this uncertainty, but take care to stay out of the limelight.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
limelight (ˈlaɪmˌlaɪt)
 
—n
1.  the limelight a position of public attention or notice (esp in the phrase in the limelight)
2.  a.  a type of lamp, formerly used in stage lighting, in which light is produced by heating lime to white heat
 b.  Also called: calcium light brilliant white light produced in this way
 
'limelighter
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

limelight
1826, popular name for Drummond light, a brilliant light created by the incandescence of lime (1), adopted for lighthouses and later for the Victorian stage, where it illuminated the principal actors, hence the figurative sense of "on stage, at the center of attention" (1877).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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