beaconbea‧con /ˈbiːkən/ ●○○ noun [countable] 
The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children.4a fire on top of a hill used in the past as a signal → Belisha beacon
WORD ORIGINbeacon
Origin:
Old English beacen ‘sign’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Navigation was helped by a radio beacon set up by the Army on the island.
- It might have been an airport beacon back on Earth, and he stared at it with a tightening of the throat.
- Like a lighthouse beacon, this magnetic field has guided ocean voyagers for hundreds of years.
- Now, one characteristic shines like a beacon in a storm, like the sun breaking through clouds.
- Soon they may be virtually invisible except for a discreet beacon.
- The International Hotel eviction was the beacon that drew attention to the problems of affordable housing, homelessness and poverty.
- When you first tune a station frequency, check the identification twice to make sure you have the right beacon.
WORD SETS
aerial, nounairtime, nounAM, nounantenna, nounatmospherics, nounaudio, adjectiveband, nounBBC, the, beacon, nounbeam, verbBeeb, the, bleep, verbboom, nounboom box, nounBritish Broadcasting Corporation, nounbroadband, nounbroadcast, nounbroadcast, verbcable television, CB, nounCCTV, nounCeefax, nounchannel, nounclosed circuit television, nouncommunications satellite, nouncontrast, noundial, nounDJ, nounexposure, nounflash, verbFM, nounfrequency, nounham, nounHz, interference, nounjam, verbkHz, kilohertz, nounlinkup, nounlive, adjectivelocal radio, nounlong wave, nounloudspeaker, nounLW, mast, nounmedium wave, nounmegahertz, nounMHz, modulate, verbmonitor, nounmono, nounmono, adjectiveNBC, nounnetwork, nounnetwork, verbon-air, adjectiveover, prepositionpresenter, nounprogramming, nounquadraphonic, adjectiveradio, nounradio, verbreceive, verbreceiver, nounreception, nounrepeat, verbrepeat, nounrerun, nounrerun, verbroger, interjectionsatellite, nounsatellite dish, nounsatellite television, nounsaturation, nounscrambler, nounseries, nounset, nounshipping forecast, nounship-to-shore, adjectiveshort wave, nounsignal, nounsignature tune, nounsimulcast, verbSOS, nounsound, nounsound bite, nounsound check, nounstatic, nountelecast, nounTeletext, nountelevise, verbtelevision, nountelevision licence, nountelly, nountime signal, nountrack, verbtransistor, nountransistor radio, nountransmission, nountransmit, verbtransmitter, nountune, verbtuner, nountweeter, nountwo-way, adjectiveUHF, noununscramble, verbveejay, nounvideo, nounvideo, adjectivevideo jockey, nounvolume, nounwaveband, nounwavelength, nounwhite noise, nounwireless, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1a light that is put somewhere to warn or guide people, ships, vehicles, or aircraft2a radio or radar signal used by aircraft or boats to help them find their position and direction3 especially literary a person, idea etc that guides or encourages youbeacon of The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children. (=something that makes people have hope)· Mandela was a symbol of hope for his whole country.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The airport has no radar nor instrument landing system and planes are guided in by radio beacon.· Then the pilots apparently selected a heading toward another radio beacon near the threshold of runway 19.· Following the crash the airliner's emergency radio beacon failed to function and rescue teams experienced difficulties locating the wreckage.
VERB· Without the slightest shred of evidence, those nebulous question marks stood out like warning beacons.· Because they are so good, so smart, they stand out like beacons in a sea of mediocrity.· His white cotton gloves stood out like beacons on the steering wheel.· It stood out like a beacon in that rather murky period.
The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children.4a fire on top of a hill used in the past as a signal → Belisha beacon