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alight

Pronunciation: /əˈlaɪt/

The English word “alight” has 14 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
  2. Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete one's journey; to stop.
  3. Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
  4. To come down or go down; to descend.
  5. Often followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
  6. Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
  7. To arrive.
  8. To cast light on (something); to illuminate, to light up.
  9. To set light to (something); to set (something) on fire; to ignite, to light.

adjective

  1. Burning, lit, on fire.
  2. Often followed by with: shining with light; luminous, radiant; also, brightly coloured; vivid.
  3. Of an electrical light source: switched on and emitting light.
  4. Aglow with activity or emotion.

adverb

  1. Chiefly in set alight: in flames, on fire; aflame.

Etymology

From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose rank; to come forth, spring from; to alleviate, relieve; (Christianity) of Jesus: to come down to earth from heaven, become incarnate; to…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.