Lamp (?), n. [F. lampe, L. lampas, -adis, fr. Gr. &?; , &?;, torch, fr. &?; to give light, to shine. Cf. Lampad, Lantern.]
1. A light-producing vessel, instrument or apparatus; especially, a vessel with a
wick used for the combustion of oil or other inflammable liquid, for the purpose of producing artificial light.
2.
Figuratively, anything which enlightens intellectually or morally; anything regarded
metaphorically a performing the
uses of a lamp.
Thy
word is a
lamp unto my feet, and a light unto
my path.
Ps.
cxix. 105. Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appeared.
Cowper.
3. (Elec.) A device or mechanism for producing light by electricity. See Incandescent lamp, under Incandescent.
Æolipile lamp, a hollow ball
of copper containing alcohol which is converted into vapor by a lamp beneath, so as to make a powerful blowpipe flame when the vapor is
ignited. Weale. -- Arc lamp (Elec.), a form of lamp
in which the voltaic arc is used as the source of
light. -- Dëbereiner's lamp, an apparatus for the instantaneous production of a flame by the spontaneous ignition of a
jet of hydrogen on being led over platinum sponge; -- named after the German chemist Döbereiner, who invented it. Called also philosopher's lamp. -- Flameless lamp, an aphlogistic lamp. -- Lamp burner, the part of a lamp where the wick is
exposed and ignited. Knight. -- Lamp fount, a reservoir for oil, in a lamp. -- Lamp jack. See 2d Jack, n., 4
(l) & (n). -- Lamp shade, a screen, as of
paper, glass, or tin, for softening or obstructing the light of
a lamp. -- Lamp shell (Zoöl.), any brachiopod shell of the genus
Terebratula and allied genera. The name refers to the shape,
which is like that of
an antique lamp. See Terebratula. -- Safety lamp, a miner's lamp in which
the flame is surrounded by fine wire gauze, preventing the kindling of dangerous explosive
gases; -- called also, from Sir Humphry Davy the inventor, Davy lamp. -- To smell of the
lamp, to bear marks of great study and labor, as
a literary composition.
Lamp (?), n. [OE. (with excrescent p), fr. F. lame, L. lamina. See Lamina.]
A thin plate or
lamina. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Hear it pronounced