alight1
/əˈlʌɪt
/verb
1 [no object, with adverbial of place] formal Descend from a train, bus, or other form of transport: visitors should alight at the Fort Road stop...
- Passengers alighting from trains at the city railway station have no easy access to the two bus stations; the subway is of little help and has been vandalised.
- Police - using a drug-detecting sniffer dog - swooped on suspect passengers boarding and alighting from trains.
- From the overbridge the pair warned passengers alighting from the train to avoid the Leeds fans by going a different way.
Synonyms
get off, step off, get down;
dismount, disembark, descend, exit;
detrain, deplane
informal pile out
1.1(Of a bird) descend from the air and settle: one bird alighted on the arm of my chair...
- Like birds alighting for a while on a newly seeded lawn, they will peck away at all the possibilities until they have exhausted this area and then move on to another form.
- On another occasion, an origami bird alights by letters in a banner hanging on a wall.
- A big, majestic study for this sculpture, in pastel, charcoal and acrylic on brown paper, finds two shadowy birds alighting, and a ghostly doubled head, its mouth stretched painfully wide.
Synonyms
land, come down, come to rest, touch down, light, arrive, descend;
settle, perch, roost, sit, rest
Phrasal verbs
alight on
Origin
Old English ālīhtan, from ā- (as an intensifier) + līhtan 'descend' (see light3).
Rhymes
alight2
/əˈlʌɪt/adverb & adjective
1On fire; burning: [as adjective]: the house was alight when the firemen arrived [as adverb]: flammable liquid was set alight...
- A sub-standard home is scheduled to be set alight by fire crews, then demolished by a digger.
- Mr Swales said they were also concerned about surrounding businesses as the blaze started to spread and set alight a fourth floor fire escape door on an adjoining building.
- There are always little fires being set alight every day.
Synonyms
on fire, ablaze, aflame, in flames, flaming, burning, blazing, raging, fiery, lit, lighted, ignited
literary afire
1.1Shining brightly: [as adjective]: a single lamp was alight figurative the boy’s face was alight with excitement...
- Her eyes widened with fright and awe; they were alight with a bright white flame, as was every other place on her body she could see.
- Kathryn nodded; her bright blue eyes alight with excitement.
- As I slept, the moon outside shone brightly, and the black sky was alight with stars blinking down over my little neighborhood in suburban New York.
Synonyms
lit up, gleaming, glowing, aglow, ablaze, illuminated, brilliant, bright, shining, radiant, shimmering, sparkling, flashing, dazzling, luminous, incandescent
Phrases
set the world alight
Origin
Late Middle English: probably from the phrase on a light (= lighted) fire.