Word.ws English Dictionary

lightbulb

UK/ˈlaɪtˌbʌlb/

lightbulb is the alternative spelling of light bulb.

Meaning of light bulb

Noun

light bulb (plural light bulbs)

  1. An evacuated glass bulb containing a metal filament which is heated by electrical resistance to produce light.
    • Atticus did something that interested us: he came into the livingroom carrying a long electrical extension cord. There was a light bulb on the end.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC
  2. (broadly) An article that resembles such a bulb and converts electricity to light by any process.
    • a fluorescent light bulb
  3. (figuratively) Used in reference to the sudden arrival of a realization, an inspiration, an idea, or the like.
    • a light-bulb moment

Noun

lightbulb (plural lightbulbs)

  1. (Singapore, colloquial) An uninvited third person joining a couple's date who prevents or hinders romantic interactions.
    • You two go ahead lah, I don't want to be lightbulb.2011 October 23, Heidy The Traveler, Learn Singlish a Bit!
    • When she finally came out her friend joined us. Damn lightbulb leh!2014 August 3, Chris Soh, 20 Words That Mean Something Completely Different to Singaporeans

Synonyms of lightbulb

Forms of lightbulb

plurallightbulbs

Origin of lightbulb

Calque from Cantonese 電燈泡／电灯泡 (din6 dang1 paau1), as though the third person is a light bulb in the background.

Words formed from lightbulb

Questions about lightbulb

What does lightbulb mean?
Lightbulb means an uninvited third person joining a couple's date who prevents or hinders romantic interactions.
What is lightbulb the alternative spelling of?
Lightbulb is the alternative spelling of light bulb.
What part of speech is lightbulb?
Lightbulb is a noun.
How do you pronounce lightbulb?
Lightbulb is pronounced /ˈlaɪtˌbʌlb/ (UK).
What is the plural of lightbulb?
The plural of lightbulb is lightbulbs.

Words near lightbulb in the dictionary

  1. Lightbourne
  2. Lightbournes
  3. lightbox
  4. lightboxes
  5. lightbrained
  6. lightbulb
  7. lightbulb joke
  8. lightbulbed
  9. lightbulbs
  10. Lightcap
  11. Lightcaps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lightbulb (page history and authors); light bulb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lightbulb.wav.

Cite this entry: “lightbulb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lightbulb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.