searchlightn.
/ˈsəːtʃlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈsərtʃˌlaɪt/ 1. A powerful electric light for outdoor use, fitted with a reflector and able to direct a concentrated beam in any desired direction. Also: the beam of such a light.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > electric light > [noun] > arc light > searchlight
searchlight1881
the world > matter > light > artificial light > [noun] > electric light > light from searchlight
searchlight1919
1881 Standard 7 Sept. 5/3 Her [sc. a warship's] stay in the river is occasioned by the preparations for fitting her with a powerful electric ‘search light’, as a protection against night attack from torpedo boats.
1919 R. Kipling in Hutchinson's Story Mag. July 12 And the crazy skies are lit By the searchlights of the Pit.
1944 H. Hawton Night Bombing 92 Cologne's defences were massive, but with the sky thick with aircraft the searchlights were bewildered and the predictors confused.
2007 Observer 18 Nov. (Food Monthly Suppl.) 75/4 Using a searchlight mounted on the bridge, the skipper begins to navigate the ink-black backwaters of the archipelago.
2. Something likened to a searchlight in throwing a powerful or revealing light on a subject. Used with reference to something or someone being exposed to intense scrutiny or subjected to detailed investigation. Frequently in to turn the searchlight on and variants.
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the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > [noun]
examininga1325
examinationa1450
examine1494
examen1502
scanning1560
scrutation1593
scrutiny1604
pervestigation1610
microscope1671
introspectiona1676
scan1706
bolting1771
conning1823
grubbing1831
vivisection1880
searchlight1891
1891 New Rev. Nov. 467 You, my ingenuous sophist..are throwing the search-light of reason along the path it [sc. the phrase ‘will to live’] indicates.
1922 Current Hist. Sept. (Front advertising section) His work turns a revealing searchlight on a most vital period of our nation's history.
1987 P. Wright & P. Greengrass Spycatcher xxii. 342 The 1970s were to be the years of reckoning, when the secret armies of the West were finally and painfully exposed to the searing searchlight of publicity.
2004 Guardian (Nexis) 7 Dec. (Educ. section) 16 Suddenly Whitehall has trained a searchlight on further education, and it's making colleges nervous.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
searchlightv.
/ˈsəːtʃlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈsərtʃˌlaɪt/ 1. transitive. To illuminate (an area, object, etc.) with a searchlight; to light up brightly, as if with a searchlight.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > electric light > [verb (transitive)] > illuminate with specific types of electric light
searchlight1900
spotlight1913
strip light1920
flood-light1923
1900 St. James's Gaz. 10 Sept. 6/2 (headline) Searchlighting the Dover forts.
1914 W. De Morgan When Ghost meets Ghost i. xxix. 344 That officer..was searchlighting areas for want of something to do.
1969 M. Gins Word Rain ii As the man walked away the clear vision of the sun searchlighted the page.
2010 @carsennnnn 19 Apr. in twitter.com Any reason why 9 cop cars just pulled into my neighborhood with their lights off and searchlighted every house? Im not gonna get sleep now.
2. transitive. To expose (something) to scrutiny or attention; to draw attention to.
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1911 Jrnl. Amer. Public Health Assoc. 1 486 The numerical registration and tabulation of population..with the end in view of ‘searchlighting’ the path of sanitary progress.
1966 Prison Service Jrnl. 6 21/2 We find our own failings..are searchlighted.
2019 Vanguard (Lagos) (Nexis) 31 Mar. We are talking of a report that searchlighted economies of countries in different continents of the world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1881
v.1900