Definition of 'alight'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present
tense alights
, present participle alighting
, past tense , past participle alighted
1. adjective
If something is alight, it is burning.
Several buildings were set alight.
The gas fire was still alight.
2. adjective
If someone's eyes are alight or if their face is alight, the expression in their eyes or on their face shows that they are feeling a strong emotion such as excitement or happiness.
[literary]
Her eyes were alight with a girlish enjoyment of life.
She paused and turned, her face alight with happiness.
3. verb
4. verb
5. verb
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
verbWord forms: alights, alighting, alighted or alit (intransitive)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin of 'alight'
Old English ālīhtan, from a-2 + līhtan to make less heavy, from līht light2Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin of 'alight'
Old English ālīht lit up, from ālīhtan to light up; see light1 verb intransitiveWord forms: aˈlighted or aˈlit, aˈlighting
1.
to get down or off; dismount
3. Rare
to come (on or upon) accidentally
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin of 'alight'
ME alighten < OE ālīhtan < a-, out, off + līhtan, to dismount, render light < liht: see light2 (to dismount)Example sentences containing 'alight'
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The house was also set alight but the fire was extinguished.
Times, Sunday Times (2013) Vehicles were set alight and shops looted.
The Sun (2014) Times, Sunday Times (2008) THE WOLF AND THE DOVETourists who cut short their holidays said they had seen buildings alight and crowds of angry demonstrators in the streets.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)Riot cops faced a terrifying barrage of missiles and petrol bombs and buildings were set alight by a rampaging mob.
The Sun (2010)But why set the building alight?
Times, Sunday Times (2011) The Sun (2011) Times, Sunday Times (2008) Times, Sunday Times (2015)Shots have been fired at other opposition activists, stones have been thrown and vehicles set alight.
Times, Sunday Times (2012) Times, Sunday Times (2013)The mule was on holiday, but the fire was alight.
Times, Sunday Times (2012) Times, Sunday Times (2010)During one stay in hospital she used hairspray to set herself alight, and after that she was disabled.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)Not quickly enough, if his recent experience of setting his face alight while cooking pasta is anything to go by.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)Her gaze alighted on something.
No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer's Tale (2007) Times, Sunday Times (2006) Anne of Green Gables (1872)When firefighters arrived at the scene just after 1am, they found a building and three buses alight.
The Sun (2014)TWO men have been jailed after setting alight to 20,000 in stolen cash and trying to flush it down the toilet.
The Sun (2012) A Little Princess (1905)A bird had alighted in the sand with a flash of blue and white feather, to peck at something thrown from the train.
Somewhere East of Life (1994) Times, Sunday Times (2012)Trends of 'alight'
View usage over:
Translations for 'alight'
British English: alight ADJECTIVE
If something is alight, it is burning.The fire was still alight.
If something is alight, it is burning.The fire was still alight.
British English: alight VERB
If a bird or insect alights somewhere, it lands there.A thrush alighted on a branch of the pine tree.
If a bird or insect alights somewhere, it lands there.A thrush alighted on a branch of the pine tree.
Source
Definition of alight from the
Collins English Dictionary
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