WordNet
n. light on an airplane that indicates the plane's position and orientation; red light on the left (port) wing tip and green light on the right (starboard) wing tip
Wikipedia
A navigation light, also known as a running light, is a colored source of illumination on a waterborne vessel, aircraft and some spacecraft, used to signal a craft's position, heading, and status. Commonly, their placement is mandated by international conventions or civil authorities. Contrary to the name, these lights are not used for navigating. They indicate the craft's relative position, and are thus, often called "Position lights".
Navigation lighting systems include:
- Right-of-way lights — A red light is mounted on the left or port side of the craft and a green on the right or starboard side. In a situation where the paths of two watercraft or aircraft cross, these lights help each crew determine the other craft's direction and who has right-of-way. When two craft have crossing paths, each sees a red or green running light. The craft on the port side, which must yield right of way, sees the red light on the other, while the craft on the starboard side, which has right of way, sees the green on the other.
- Strobe lights — On aircraft primarily, strobe lights flash a high-intensity burst of white light, to help other pilots recognize the aircraft's position in low-visibility conditions.
Usage examples of "navigation light".
The black-painted huss was blotched with rust which shone readily in the launch's port navigation light.
The helmsman swung the launch alongside the hull, once painted a dark orange but now discolored by rust, as revealed by the running lights on the masts and the glow from the starboard navigation light.
The trick was to extinguish a navigation light so ships would run aground and be easy prey for the wreckers.
But there was no sign of the warm glow of the port navigation light.
I sat back and stared out of my window at the red glow of the port navigation light.
Eventually, its navigation light disappeared among the stars, and then he felt her standing close beside him.
Try following the railroad bed along the coast, around Point Conception to Point Arguello, where there's a navigation light.
A flurry of sleet drove like a veil across the starboard navigation light.
They lay now in about 60 feet, not far from the end of the long reef where an automatic navigation light had been placed.
Besides the red and blue telltales of a waking stand, this kelp flashed its cold navigation light at random and occasionally flooded them with the brighter fiber-optic sunlight that it transported from the surface.
In the distance, he saw the green pin-point of light that was the starboard navigation light of the Kantara.
Dim shafts of white light came to life here and there about the ship, interrupted only by the green glow of the starboard navigation light.