light boxn.
/ˈlʌɪt bɒks/, U.S. /ˈlaɪt ˌbɑks/ 1. A small portable apparatus for producing a flame, comprising a box holding a container of concentrated sulphuric acid and small wooden splints coated with a paste containing potassium chlorate and sugar, which ignite when dipped in the acid. Cf. phosphorus box n. Now historical.
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society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > container or holder for tinder or matches
tinder-box1530
firebox1555
tinder1570
linstock1575
funk horn1673
spunk-box1721
phosphorus box1792
light box1816
spunk-flask1835
match-bottle1839
matchbox1853
match-pot1856
match-safe1860
punk-box1862
match-stand1873
match holder1884
book1899
safety box1902
matchbook1937
1816 Morning Post 16 Dec. (advt.) Portable Powders for making Soda Water, Ginger Beer, and Spruce Beer, and instantaneous Light Boxes.
1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xix. 173 Helen..went for a light-box and his cigar-case.
1853 C. Knight Once upon a Time II. 273 By-and-by the light-box was sold as low as a shilling.
2009 L. Raw Striking Light iv. 89 In 1805, a French chemist created the ancestor of the modern match, the ‘Instantaneous Light Box’, introduced to England in 1815.
2. An enclosure made with transparent or diffusing sheets, lenses, etc., on one or more sides and containing a source of light to illuminate the surrounding space; spec. a small room or compartment adjoining the magazine in a warship, having thick glass windows behind which lights may be placed in order to illuminate the magazine while preventing the risk of explosion (cf. light room n. 1) (now historical).
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > other specific rooms on naval vessel
powder room1582
powder magazine1712
engine room1749
pressroom1813
light box1860
wet room1970
1860 Ordnance Instr. U.S. Navy (ed. 2) vi. 116 All magazines should have a light-box for each alley at one end and a passage to deliver powder at the other.
1899 A. Black Captain Kodak (ed. 3) iv. 61 At first Allan had thought of building a dark-room light-box, with red cover glass, in which an ordinary small lamp could be placed.
1918 H. C. Ramsey Elem. Naval Ordnance & Gunnery xiii. 140 Naval Regulations require magazine lights to be contained in water-tight cases or lanterns..; also that the lenses of the lantern or light box be clean and without fracture.
1942 J. O. Kraehenbuehl Electr. Illumination viii. 245 The light boxes commonly used may be divided into two classes: those which are covered with some form of transmitting medium which is translucent and acts as a light diffuser, and those which have prismatic lens plates.
2003 J. Myerson & P. Ross 21st Cent. Office 2:9 The lighting needed to be purpose-designed for the project, and special light boxes giving daylight-quality illumination were made to follow the building's line.
3. A box with one translucent side, illuminated by a light source within, providing a diffusely lit flat surface for viewing transparencies, photographic negatives, etc., or tracing designs placed upon it. Cf. light table n. at light n.1 Compounds 3.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > electric light > [noun] > with diffuser for viewing transparencies
light box1920
1920 Rep. Surgeon Gen. U.S. Army 240 Storage racks have been purchased for the storage of the plates that been retained as most valuable and a large room has been fitted up with light boxes, etc., for the purpose of exhibiting X-ray plates.
1978 H. E. L. Andrew Batsford Encycl. Crafts (1988) 13/1 Drawings are made over a lightbox, so that the previous drawing is laid down first and the blank piece of paper is laid on top and traced through, alterations in movements being made to those parts which need it, and so on.
2007 T. Friend Third Domain iii. 77 The oligonucleotides appeared as small rows of black shadows on a large sheet of photographic film placed over a light box.
2018 C. Gerald There will be no Miracles Here xiv. 195 He snapped the X-ray into a light box outside the locker room. Used his pen to show the first metacarpal floating alone, ligaments shredded in the void.
4. Photography. An enclosure made of a translucent material which when externally lit provides even and diffuse illumination for objects placed within.
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1971 J. Papert Photomacrography 24 The light box and the tent are enclosures, usually made of translucent material, within which the subject is placed.
2015 C. D. Duncan Adv. Crime Scene Photogr. (ed. 2) iii. 78 Lights can now be positioned to the side of the light box and shone through the translucent fabric for a more even and balanced light presence.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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n.1816