watch-lightn.
/ˈwɒtʃlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈwɑtʃˌlaɪt/, /ˈwɔtʃˌlaɪt/ 1. = night light n. 2a, esp. in the form of a slow-burning candle with a rush wick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > nightlight
mortara1398
crusell1401
mortar-light1555
watch-lighta1665
wax-lighta1715
veilleuse?1812
night lighta1823
bed-candle1850
a1665 K. Digby Private Mem. (1827) 67 After she was in bed..she read it by the help of the watch-light which stood burning by her.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iii. i. 50 Nurse, let me have a Watch-light.
1716 J. Addison Drummer ii. 20 Item, a dozen Pound of Watch-Lights for the Use of the Servants.
a1732 J. Gay Story of Apparition 88 Swift retir'd the maid, The watch-lights burn, tuckt warm in bed was laid The hardy stranger.
1775 G. White Let. 1 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 198 These rushes give a good clear light. Watch-lights (coated with tallow), it is true, shed a dismal one, ‘darkness visible’.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 204 Luminous Bottle, or Watch-light.
c1865 H. Letheby in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 94/2 The rushes are peeled on three sides for the best light, and on two only for watch-lights.
2. A light carried by a watchman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > [noun] > used at night > by a watchman
watch-light1855
1855 R. Browning Andrea del Sarto 209 See, it is settled dusk now; there's a star; Morello's gone, the watch-lights show the wall.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.a1665