lamps

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of lamp.

   Rows of brass lamps lined the hallway of the old hotel.

   The festival organizers hung paper lamps from every branch.

   Note

   One plural covers several kinds of object: oil lamps that burn through a wick, electric bulbs, and the furniture that holds the sockets. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb. In "the lamps" it is a noun, but in "he lamps" someone is hitting, or hunting by lamplight. A determiner or a subject in front of it usually settles which one you are reading.

2. 2
   verbUKIreland

   Third-person singular simple present of lamp.

   The gamekeeper lamps for foxes along the boundary each evening.

   Whenever the moon is dark, he lamps the open ground beyond the barn.

   Note

   Which verb you hear depends on where you are. In British slang, he lamps someone when he hits them. In Britain and Ireland, a gamekeeper lamps for foxes, dazzling them with a bright light. In American slang, someone who lamps is simply hanging out. A craftsman who lamps a vase turns it into a table lamp. With "for" after it, the verb almost always means the night hunt.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2