headlightn.
/ˈhɛdlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈhɛdˌlaɪt/ 1. A powerful light at the front of a vehicle (now esp. a motor vehicle), used to illuminate the way ahead and to increase the visibility of one's own vehicle at night, in fog, etc.; = headlamp n. 1.Originally with reference to a lamp at the front of a railway vehicle, or occasionally on the masthead of a ship (cf. masthead light n. at masthead n. Compounds 1). Now chiefly with reference to the (usually white) lights typically positioned at either side of the front end of a motor vehicle (cf. tail-light n. at tail n.1 Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > parts and equipment of vehicles generally > [noun] > lights and reflectors
signal light1743
tail-light1844
headlight1845
headlamp1851
tail-lamp1891
reflector1909
spotlight1916
fogs1974
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > headlight
headlamp1851
headlight1899
head1959
1845 Illustr. London News 11 Jan. 28/1 A valuable portable gas lamp..was tried..on the Eastern Counties Railway, and was found to answer most admirably as a head-light to the engine.
1853 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Sentinel 28 Apr. Could see a train three miles if it had a good head light.
1886 Hansard's Parl. Deb. 3rd. Ser. 308 1703 If the [electric] light can be made useful at all, it would be..as a head light on ships.
1899 Automotor & Horseless Vehicle Jrnl. June 480/2 According to the new regulations for the driving of automobiles at night in France, it is necessary to carry white and green head-lights on the right and left of the carriage respectively.
1907 Country Life in Amer. Oct. 684/2 Almost everyone knows how distressing it is to be suddenly blinded and bewildered by the glare of an acetylene headlight of the type commonly used on automobiles.
1965 Pop. Sci. Mar. 168/1 I've equipped my scooter with a bicycle headlight, tail and stop lights.
1986 J. V. Baiamonte Spirit of Vengeance ii. 21 The car's headlights were out.
2001 J. Rubin tr. H. Murakami in Granta Summer 64 Someone smashed the headlights of her Honda Accord in the hospital parking lot.
2. In various similative and figurative phrases alluding to the habit of deer, rabbits, etc., of stopping still when dazzled by light, or of running away within the beam. Frequently in caught in the headlights: frozen with fright or surprise at suddenly or unexpectedly becoming the focus of attention; caught out.
ΚΠ
1953 G. Wilson Feared & Fearless xiv. 92 He stumbled, then pulled himself upright and ran on, keeping to the track as a rabbit caught in the headlights' glare will do.
1971 Daily Tel. 11 Feb. 11/2 It is only when they commit some offence that they are caught in the headlights of history.
1988 R. E. Feist Faerie Tale (1989) 122 She shook, unable to move, trapped like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car at night.
1996 P. Theroux My Other Life 184 I could only think of the daughter's sweet, startled face in the doorway.., her sudden fear, a deer caught in the headlights.
2005 J. Carroll Ital. Romance 40 I am a rabbit in the headlights. My heart beats like a fist.
Compounds
General attributive, as headlight bulb, headlight beam, headlight glare, headlight lamp, etc.
ΚΠ
1863 Sci. Amer. 30 May 379/3 A cylindrical, curved head-light reflector.
1896 Idaho Avalanche 24 July Shutter slides..are carried in the right side of the headlight case.
1934 Pop. Sci. Aug. 68/3 I had just put new headlight bulbs in a customer's car.
1962 Times 8 May 16/5 A steering column lever would be handier than the headlight toggle switch.
1986 Amer. Motorcyclist Sept. 36/1 Headlight modulators are electronic devices about the size of a cigarette pack.
1991 J. P. Rothe Trucker's World 170 He likes night driving because there are fewer vehicles on the road resulting in less headlight glare.
2010 D. Hoesel Hunter's Moon xxxv. 366 Twin headlight beams swept across Graham's truck as another car pulled into the service station parking lot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1845