lightening

Verb (1)

lighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)

1. (transitive) To make brighter or clearer; to illuminate.
   • to lighten an apartment with lamps or gas; to lighten the streets

   Synonyms:

   light up

2. (intransitive) To become brighter or clearer; to brighten.
3. (archaic, intransitive) To flash lightning, to give off lightning.
   • Enter the Conjurer; it lightens and thunders […]c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [line 500]
4. (transitive) To emit or disclose in, or as if in, lightning; to flash out, like lightning.
   • […] behold his eye,
     As bright as is the eagle’s, lightens forth
     Controlling majesty:1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
5. (archaic) To illuminate with knowledge.
   • O Light which mak’st the Light, which makes the Day,
     Which setst the Eye without and Mind within,
     Lighten my spirit with one cleare heavenly ray,
     Which now to view it selfe doth first begin.1599, John Davies, “Of the Soule of man, and the immortalitie thereof”, in Nosce Teipsum. This Oracle Expounded in Two Elegies, London: John Standish, page 10

   Synonyms:

   enlighten

Verb (2)

lighten (third-person singular simple present lightens, present participle lightening, simple past and past participle lightened)

1. (transitive) To alleviate; to reduce the burden of.
   • Sorrow can be lightened by being openly brought out.

See all 11 meanings of lighten

Noun

lightning (usually uncountable, plural lightnings)

1. (usually) A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.
   • Although we did not see the lightning, we did hear the thunder.
2. (usually) A discharge of this kind.
   • The lightning was hot enough to melt the sand.
3. (figuratively, usually) Anything that moves very fast.
   • Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking beast and dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced to the rear of the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter V, in Hugo Gernsback, editor...
4. (archaic, slang, usually) Gin.
   • I took some gin but it did little to calm my mood. […] 'Come now, Bess,' she entreated, and poured another glass of lightning. 'Tell your old mother everything.' I took a gulp of the spirit, then babbled all, showing her the loot now in my possession.2017, Jake Arnott, The Fatal Tree

See all 6 meanings of lightning