Lantern
Lantern (lan"tẽrn) , noun
[French lanterne, Latin lanterna, laterna, from Greek lampth`r light, torch. See Lamp.]
1.
Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc.; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light.
2.
(a) (Architecture) An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior.
(b)
(Architecture) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns.
(c)
(Architecture) A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral.
3.
(Machinery) A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See Lantern pinion (below).
4.
(Steam Engine) A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc.; -- called also lantern brass.
5.
(Founding) A perforated barrel to form a core upon.
6.
(Zoology) See Aristotle's lantern.
Figuratively 1 represents a hand lantern; fig. 2, an arm lantern; fig. 3, a breast lantern; -- so named from the positions in which they are carried.
Collocations (5)
Dark lantern , a lantern with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the light; -- called also bull's-eye.
Lantern jaws , long, thin jaws; hence, a thin visage.
Lantern pinion or Lantern wheel (Machinery) , a kind of pinion or wheel having cylindrical bars or trundles, instead of teeth, inserted at their ends in two parallel disks or plates; -- so called as resembling a lantern in shape; -- called also wallower, or trundle.
Lantern shell (Zoology) , any translucent, marine, bivalve shell of the genus Anatina, and allied genera.
Magic lantern , an optical instrument consisting of a case inclosing a light, and having suitable lenses in a lateral tube, for throwing upon a screen, in a darkened room or the like, greatly magnified pictures from slides placed in the focus of the outer lens.
Lantern , transitive verb
[Compare French lanterner to hang at the lamp post, from lanterne. See Lantern.]
To furnish with a lantern; as, to lantern a lighthouse.