Meaning & use
lamp
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Meanings
nouncountable
A device that gives light, usually powered by electricity, oil, or gas, used in a room or on a table.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a lamp, two lamps, the lamp on the desk.
Patterns
- a lamp on something
- turn on/off a lamp
- a table/floor/desk lamp
She switched on the lamp beside her bed and started reading.
The room was dark except for a small lamp on the desk.
We bought a new floor lamp for the living room.
nouncountable
A light source in a piece of equipment, such as a headlight or indicator light.
Grammar: Countable; often used in compounds like headlamp, fog lamp.
Patterns
- a headlamp
- a fog lamp
- the lamp is out
One of the car's headlamps was broken.
The warning lamp on the dashboard came on.
Word forms
| plural | lamps |
|---|
Common combinations
- table lamp
- He put a table lamp next to the sofa.
- floor lamp
- A tall floor lamp stood in the corner.
- lamp shade
- The lamp shade was made of pale silk.
- turn on a lamp
- It was getting dark, so she turned on a lamp.
- lamp post
- The street was lit by a single lamp post.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- lamplight noun
- the light produced by a lamp.
- lamplit adjective
- lit by lamps.
- lampshade noun
- a cover for a lamp that softens or directs its light.
Commonly confused: lamp or lampoon?
lamp vs lampoon
A lampoon is a piece of writing that makes fun of someone; a lamp is a light.
Practice
Choose the best word: She turned on the ___ to read her book.
Choose one answer.
A lamp is a device that gives light, and you can turn it on. A lampoon is a type of satire, lamplight is the light itself, and a lamp post is a street light, not something you turn on to read.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lamp”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.