What's the difference between alight and light?

Alight


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To spring down, get down, or descend, as from on horseback or from a carriage; to dismount.
  • (v. i.) To descend and settle, lodge, rest, or stop; as, a flying bird alights on a tree; snow alights on a roof.
  • (v. i.) To come or chance (upon).
  • (a.) Lighted; lighted up; in a flame.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Alighting upon the final four songs recorded by Drake, he pressed play and began to make notes before setting about mixing them for this putative release.
  • (2) The promise of exclusive photos and an "official chatroom" doesn't exactly set our world alight – but White is also promising subscribers four 7" records, four 12" records and four new T-shirts a year.
  • (3) Others wrecked the villa interior, poured fuel on the floor and set it alight.
  • (4) Villas of government officials were set alight and gunfire erupted in several districts of the city.
  • (5) (An official report later concluded that one of the men had set the van alight, killed the other and then himself.)
  • (6) That expectation was realized, with passengers from the oldest age groups having the highest relative frequency of accidents and vehicles with three steps being involved in a disproportionately large share of boarding and alighting accidents.
  • (7) In the small hours of the previous morning, an attacker had forced open a shutter, broken a window and set the inside alight .
  • (8) "I could be an MP…" And it suddenly occurs to me that Gardiner might just have alighted on the perfect profession for his skills.
  • (9) In a running confrontation, both sides threw molotov cocktails, one of which set alight a makeshift barricade in the foyer.
  • (10) Didcot resident Steve Shadbolt told the Oxford Mail that he looked across at the power station and realised that one of the towers was alight: “It burnt so fiercely that it spread to the next one ... it was quite a blaze.” The energy secretary, Ed Davey, said: “First, I want to thank the emergency services who are at Didcot working to tackle the blaze.
  • (11) Some of these new converts have alighted upon the basic income as an answer to our fragmenting welfare state.
  • (12) Cars were set alight and there were unconfirmed reports of petrol bombs being thrown.
  • (13) Falun Gong groups overseas dispute that - and in 2011 a man set himself alight near the site of the car crash.
  • (14) Tens of thousands of hectares of forest have been alight for more than two months as a result of slash and burn – the fastest and quickest way to clear land for new plantations.
  • (15) Photograph: Guim “The men shouted as they walked through the station having alighted from the train a short time earlier.
  • (16) Brotherhood spokesmen denied responsibility for the fires, but the local people everywhere say that it was groups of Brothers who attacked the buildings and set them alight.
  • (17) The young Somali woman who set herself alight on Nauru – the second refugee in a week to do so – has been taken to Australia by air ambulance, but her situation remains critical.
  • (18) On Rupert Murdoch's Fox News channel, the conservative commentator Sean Hannity recently alighted upon the case of Gordon Cook, a security manager from Merseyside, who used superglue to stick a loose crown into his gum because he was unable to find an NHS dentist.
  • (19) (" Setting a children's hospital alight is hitting the all time low.
  • (20) Bales acknowledged setting the bodies alight with a kerosene lantern.

Light


Definition:

  • (n.) That agent, force, or action in nature by the operation of which upon the organs of sight, objects are rendered visible or luminous.
  • (n.) That which furnishes, or is a source of, light, as the sun, a star, a candle, a lighthouse, etc.
  • (n.) The time during which the light of the sun is visible; day; especially, the dawn of day.
  • (n.) The brightness of the eye or eyes.
  • (n.) The medium through which light is admitted, as a window, or window pane; a skylight; in architecture, one of the compartments of a window made by a mullion or mullions.
  • (n.) Life; existence.
  • (n.) Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.
  • (n.) The power of perception by vision.
  • (n.) That which illumines or makes clear to the mind; mental or spiritual illumination; enlightenment; knowledge; information.
  • (n.) Prosperity; happiness; joy; felicity.
  • (n.) The manner in which the light strikes upon a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; -- opposed to shade. Cf. Chiaroscuro.
  • (n.) Appearance due to the particular facts and circumstances presented to view; point of view; as, to state things fairly and put them in the right light.
  • (n.) One who is conspicuous or noteworthy; a model or example; as, the lights of the age or of antiquity.
  • (n.) A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or colored flame; as, a Bengal light.
  • (superl) Having light; not dark or obscure; bright; clear; as, the apartment is light.
  • (superl) White or whitish; not intense or very marked; not of a deep shade; moderately colored; as, a light color; a light brown; a light complexion.
  • (n.) To set fire to; to cause to burn; to set burning; to ignite; to kindle; as, to light a candle or lamp; to light the gas; -- sometimes with up.
  • (n.) To give light to; to illuminate; to fill with light; to spread over with light; -- often with up.
  • (n.) To attend or conduct with a light; to show the way to by means of a light.
  • (v. i.) To become ignited; to take fire; as, the match will not light.
  • (v. i.) To be illuminated; to receive light; to brighten; -- with up; as, the room lights up very well.
  • (superl.) Having little, or comparatively little, weight; not tending to the center of gravity with force; not heavy.
  • (superl.) Not burdensome; easy to be lifted, borne, or carried by physical strength; as, a light burden, or load.
  • (superl.) Easy to be endured or performed; not severe; not difficult; as, a light affliction or task.
  • (superl.) Easy to be digested; not oppressive to the stomach; as, light food; also, containing little nutriment.
  • (superl.) Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons; as, light troops; a troop of light horse.
  • (superl.) Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.
  • (superl.) Not heavily burdened; not deeply laden; not sufficiently ballasted; as, the ship returned light.
  • (superl.) Slight; not important; as, a light error.
  • (superl.) Well leavened; not heavy; as, light bread.
  • (superl.) Not copious or heavy; not dense; not inconsiderable; as, a light rain; a light snow; light vapors.
  • (superl.) Not strong or violent; moderate; as, a light wind.
  • (superl.) Not pressing heavily or hard upon; hence, having an easy, graceful manner; delicate; as, a light touch; a light style of execution.
  • (superl.) Easy to admit influence; inconsiderate; easily influenced by trifling considerations; unsteady; unsettled; volatile; as, a light, vain person; a light mind.
  • (superl.) Indulging in, or inclined to, levity; wanting dignity or solemnity; trifling; gay; frivolous; airy; unsubstantial.
  • (superl.) Not quite sound or normal; somewhat impaired or deranged; dizzy; giddy.
  • (superl.) Easily bestowed; inconsiderately rendered.
  • (superl.) Wanton; unchaste; as, a woman of light character.
  • (superl.) Not of the legal, standard, or usual weight; clipped; diminished; as, light coin.
  • (superl.) Loose; sandy; easily pulverized; as, a light soil.
  • (adv.) Lightly; cheaply.
  • (v. t.) To lighten; to ease of a burden; to take off.
  • (v. i.) To dismount; to descend, as from a horse or carriage; to alight; -- with from, off, on, upon, at, in.
  • (v. i.) To feel light; to be made happy.
  • (v. i.) To descend from flight, and rest, perch, or settle, as a bird or insect.
  • (v. i.) To come down suddenly and forcibly; to fall; -- with on or upon.
  • (v. i.) To come by chance; to happen; -- with on or upon; formerly with into.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) On Friday night, in a stadium built in an area once deemed an urban wasteland, the flame that has journeyed from Athens to every corner of these islands will light the fire that launches the London Olympics of 2012.
  • (2) Apparently, the irradiation with visible light of a low intensity creates an additional proton gradient and thus stimulates a new replication and division cycle in the population of cells whose membranes do not have delta pH necessary for the initiation of these processes.
  • (3) Morphological alterations in the lungs of pheasants after prolonged high-dosage administration of bleomycin sulfate were studied by light and electron microscopy.
  • (4) Light microscopic studies of pancreata from mice sacrificed at this time demonstrated insulitis and beta cell necrosis.
  • (5) The dependence of fluorescence polarization of stained nerve fibres on the angle between the fibre axis and electrical vector of exciting light (azimuth characteristics) has been considered.
  • (6) A 66-year-old woman with acute idiopathic polyneuritis (Landry-Guillain-Barré [LGB] syndrome) had normal extraocular movements, but her pupils did not react to light or accommodation.
  • (7) We have examined overlapping octapeptides from the kappa IIIb light chain variable region and show that some framework peptides have the ability to bind aggregated IgG.
  • (8) This study examined both the effect of variations in optical fiber tip and in light wavelength on laser-induced hyperthermia in rat brain.
  • (9) The water is embossed with small waves and it has a chill glassiness which throws light back up at the sky.
  • (10) A new type of Escherichia coli mutant which shows increased sensitivity to methyl methane sulfonate but not to UV light or to gamma rays was isolated after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.
  • (11) Approximately 90% of the patients have a lambda light chain myeloma protein and almost all patients excrete Bence-Jones protein.
  • (12) Matthias Müller, VW’s chief executive, said: “In light of the wide range of challenges we are currently facing, we are satisfied overall with the start we have made to what will undoubtedly be a demanding fiscal year 2016.
  • (13) In addition, lightly immunostained cells were distinguished in the caudal portion of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, area of tuber cinereum, retrochiasmatic area, and rostral portion of the paraventricular thalamic nucleus after colchicine treatment.
  • (14) Photograph: Guardian The research also compiled data covered by a wider definition of tax haven, including onshore jurisdictions such as the US state of Delaware – accused by the Cayman islands of playing "faster and looser" even than offshore jurisdictions – and the Republic of Ireland, which has come under sustained pressure from other EU states to reform its own low-tax, light-tough, regulatory environment.
  • (15) Using an in vitro culture system, light scatter analyses, and two-color flow cytometry, we provide evidence that the interleukin-2 (IL-2) and transferrin receptors can be induced within 48 hr on nonproliferating immature thymocytes.
  • (16) Photoreactions induced in that proper sensitizer molecules absorb UV-light or visible light.
  • (17) Urine specimens from patient REE also contained a light chain fragment that lacked the first (amino-terminal) 85 residues of the native light chain but otherwise was identical in sequence to the light chain REE.
  • (18) Three coyotes were operantly conditioned to depress one of two foot treadles, left or right, depending on the condition of the stimulus light.
  • (19) These results are discussed in the light of the mode of action of the substances used.
  • (20) The birds were maintained at a constant temperature in, dim green light.