Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIGHT'ED, pp. [li'ted.]

Kindled; set on fire; caused to burn. [Lit for lighted, is inelegant.]

LIGHT'EN, v.i. [li'tn; from light, the fluid; Sax. lihtan.]

1. To flash; to burst forth or dart, as lightning; to shine with an instantaneous illumination. This dreadful night / That thunders, lightens, open graves, and roars / As doth the lion. – Shak.
2. To shine like lightning. – Shak.
3. To fall; to light. [Obs.]

LIGHT'EN, v.t.¹

1. To dissipate darkness; to fill with light; to spread over with light; to illuminate; to enlighten; as, to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets. A key of fire ran all along the shore, / And lightened all the river with a blaze. – Dryden.
2. To illuminate with knowledge; in a moral sense. A light to lighten the Gentiles. – Luke ii.
3. To free from trouble and fill with joy. They looked to him and were lightened. – Ps. xxxiv.

LIGHT'EN, v.t.² [li'tn; from light, not heavy; Sax. lihtan.]

1. To make lighter; to reduce in weight; to make less heavy; as, to lighten a ship by unloading; to lighten a load or burden.
2. To alleviate; to make less burdensome or afflictive; as, to lighten the cares of life; to lighten the burden of grief.
3. To cheer; to exhilarate. He lightens my humor with his merry jest. – Shak.

LIGHT'EN-ED, pp.

Made lighter; filled with light; flashed, as lightning.

LIGHT'EN-ING, ppr.

Reducing in weight; illuminating; flashing, as lightning.

LIGHT'ER, n. [li'ter.]

1. One that lights; as, a lighter of lamps.
2. A large open flat-bottomed boat, used in loading and unloading ships.

LIGHT'ER-AGE, n.

The price paid for unloading ships by lighters or boats; also, the act of thus unloading into lighters or boats.

LIGHT'ER-MAN, n. [li'terman.]

A man who manages a lighter; a boatman.

LIGHT'-FIN-GER-ED, a. [li'tefingered.]

Dextrous in taking and conveying away; thievish; addicted to petty thefts.

LIGHT'-FOOT, or LIGHT'-FOOT-ED, a. [li'tefoot or li'tefooted.]

Nimble in running or dancing; active. [Little used.] – Spenser.

LIGHT'-HEAD-ED, a. [See Head.]

1. Thoughtless; heedless; weak; volatile; unsteady. – Clarendon.
2. Disordered in the head; dizzy; delirious.

LIGHT'-HEAD-ED-NESS, n.

Disorder of the head; dizziness; deliriousness.

LIGHT-HEART'ED, a.

Free from grief or anxiety; gay; cheerful; merry.

LIGHT-HEART'ED-LY, adv.

With a light heart.

LIGHT-HEART-ED-NESS, n.

The state of being free from care or grief; cheerfulness.

LIGHT'-HEEL-ED, a.

Lively in walking; brisk.

LIGHT'-HORSE, n.

Light-armed cavalry.

LIGHT'HOUSE, n.

A pharos; a tower or building erected on a rock or point of land, or on an isle in the sea, with a light or number of lamps on the top, intended to direct seamen in navigating ships at night.

LIGHT'ING, ppr.

Kindling; setting fire to.

LIGHT'LEG-GED, a.

Nimble; swift of foot. – Sidney.

LIGHT'LESS, a. [li'teless.]

Destitute of light; dark.

LIGHT'LY, adv. [li'tely.]

1. With little weight; as, to tread lightly; to press lightly.
2. Without deep impression. The soft ideas of the cheerful note, / Lightly received, were easily forgot. – Prior.
3. Easily; readily; without difficulty; of course.
4. Without reason, or for reasons of little weight. Flatter not the rich, neither do thou wittingly or lightly appear before great personages. – Taylor.
5. Without dejection; cheerfully. Bid that welcome / Which comes to punish us, and we punish it, / Seeming to bear it lightly. – Shak.
6. Not chastely; wantonly. Swift.
7. Nimbly; with agility; not heavily or tardily. He led me lightly over the stream.
8. Gayly; airily; with levity; without heed or care.

LIGHT-MIND'ED, a.

Unsettled; unsteady; volatile; not considerate. He that is hasty to give credit is lightminded. – Ecclus.

LIGHT'NESS, n. [li'teness.]

1. Want of weight; levity; the contrary to heaviness; as, the lightness of air compared with water.
2. Inconstancy; unsteadiness; the quality of mind which disposes it to be influenced by trifling considerations. Such is the lightness of you common men. – Shak.
3. Levity; wantonness; lewdness; unchastity. – Shak. Sidney.
4. Agility; nimbleness.