Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Lightning \Light"ning\ (l[imac]t"n[i^]ng), n. [For lightening, fr. lighten to flash.]
A discharge of atmospheric electricity, accompanied by a vivid flash of light, commonly from one cloud to another, sometimes from a cloud to the earth. The sound produced by the electricity in passing rapidly through the atmosphere constitutes thunder.
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The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers. [R.]
Ball lightning, a rare form of lightning sometimes seen as a globe of fire moving from the clouds to the earth.
Chain lightning, lightning in angular, zigzag, or forked flashes.
Heat lightning, more or less vivid and extensive flashes of electric light, without thunder, seen near the horizon, esp. at the close of a hot day.
Lightning arrester (Telegraphy), a device, at the place where a wire enters a building, for preventing injury by lightning to an operator or instrument. It consists of a short circuit to the ground interrupted by a thin nonconductor over which lightning jumps. Called also lightning discharger.
Lightning bug (Zo["o]l.), a luminous beetle. See Firefly.
Lightning conductor, a lightning rod.
Lightning glance, a quick, penetrating glance of a brilliant eye.
Lightning rod, a metallic rod set up on a building, or on the mast of a vessel, and connected with the earth or water below, for the purpose of protecting the building or vessel from lightning.
Sheet lightning, a diffused glow of electric light flashing out from the clouds, and illumining their outlines. The appearance is sometimes due to the reflection of light from distant flashes of lightning by the nearer clouds.
Wiktionary
n. A metallic conductor that is attached to a high point of a building and leads to the ground and protects the building from damage by lightning.
WordNet
n. a metallic conductor that is attached to a high point and leads to the ground; protects the building from destruction by lightning [syn: lightning rod]
Wikipedia
Lightning Conductor is a 1938 British comedy thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gordon Harker, John Lodge and Sally Gray. The screenplay concerns a London bus driver who becomes embroiled in a plot by foreign agents to steal secret documents. It was made at Pinewood Studios.
Usage examples of "lightning conductor".
This individual performs an unconsciously important role by acting as a kind of lightning conductor for the usual office hates and fears.
As the tall, thin figure stood silhouetted against the glow of the transparencies across the park, Hay suddenly saw Lincoln as a sort of human lightning conductor, absorbing all the fire from Heaven for all of them.
An Igor might be filling coffins with earth in the cellar, or up on the roof adjusting the lightning conductor, but a caller never had to knock twice.
But since his hand was resting on his own crystal, the force had been instantly absorbed, as if by a lightning conductor.