[spot-lahyt] 
noun, verb, -light⋅ed or -lit, -light⋅ing.| 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. |
| 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. |
| 8. | to hunt by using a spotlight. |
| spot·light (spŏt'līt') n.
|
spotlight
device used to produce intense illumination in a well-defined area in stage, film, television, ballet, and opera production. It resembles a small searchlight but usually has shutters, an iris diaphragm, and adjustable lenses to shape the projected light. Coloured light is produced by a mechanism for sliding or rotating coloured gelatin filters, called gels even though later made of acetate, into the beam. The first theatrical spotlight was the limelight (q.v.), which gave way to such light sources as the arc, electric discharge, and incandescent lamp. The practical lensed spotlight was developed in 1879 by Louis Hartmann of the United States.
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