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Definition of "alight" []

  • To come down and settle, as after flight: a sparrow alighting on a branch. (verb-intransitive)
  • To get down, as from a vehicle; dismount: The queen alighted from the carriage. (verb-intransitive)
  • To come by chance: alight on a happy solution. (verb-intransitive)
  • Burning; lighted: The discarded match was still alight. (adjective)
  • Illuminated: The sky was alight with millions of stars. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "alight" in a sentence
  • "No-one but the coach-driver saw her alight from the carriage, though, when it was a bare two miles from town."
  • "Laurence Olivier and Dora Bryan glancing up at it as they alight from the Brighton Belle."
  • "We stopped at a meadow to share our lemonade and my sister and I noticed how tenderly Manuel helped his wife to alight from the car."