Lamp (?), n. [F. lampe, L.
lampas, -adis, fr. Gr. ? , ?, torch, fr. ? to
give light, to shine. Cf. Lampad, Lantern.]
1. A light-producing vessel, instrument or
apparatus; especially, a vessel with a wick used for the combustion
of oil or other inflammable liquid, for the purpose of producing
artificial light.
2. Figuratively, anything which enlightens
intellectually or morally; anything regarded metaphorically a
performing the uses of a lamp.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path.
Ps. cxix. 105.
Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp
appeared.
Cowper.
3. (Elec.) A device or mechanism for
producing light by electricity. See Incandescent lamp, under
Incandescent.
Æolipile lamp, a hollow ball of copper
containing alcohol which is converted into vapor by a lamp beneath,
so as to make a powerful blowpipe flame when the vapor is
ignited. Weale. -- Arc lamp
(Elec.), a form of lamp in which the voltaic arc is used
as the source of light. -- Dëbereiner's
lamp, an apparatus for the instantaneous production of
a flame by the spontaneous ignition of a jet of hydrogen on being led
over platinum sponge; -- named after the German chemist
Döbereiner, who invented it. Called also philosopher's
lamp. -- Flameless lamp, an
aphlogistic lamp. -- Lamp burner, the part
of a lamp where the wick is exposed and ignited. Knight.
-- Lamp fount, a reservoir for oil, in a
lamp. -- Lamp jack. See 2d Jack,
n., 4 (l) &
(n). -- Lamp shade, a
screen, as of paper, glass, or tin, for softening or obstructing the
light of a lamp. -- Lamp shell
(Zoöl.), any brachiopod shell of the genus
Terebratula and allied genera. The name refers to the shape, which is
like that of an antique lamp. See Terebratula. --
Safety lamp, a miner's lamp in which the flame
is surrounded by fine wire gauze, preventing the kindling of
dangerous explosive gases; -- called also, from Sir Humphry
Davy the inventor, Davy lamp. -- To smell
of the lamp, to bear marks of great study and labor, as
a literary composition.
Lamp (?), n. [OE. (with excrescent
p), fr. F. lame, L. lamina. See Lamina.]
A thin plate or lamina. [Obs.] Chaucer.