beacon
1 Americannoun
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a guiding or warning signal, as a light or fire, especially one in an elevated position.
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a tower or hill used for such purposes.
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a lighthouse, signal buoy, etc., on a shore or at a dangerous area at sea to warn and guide vessels.
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Navigation.
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a radar device at a fixed location that, upon receiving a radar pulse, transmits a reply pulse that enables the original sender to determine their position relative to the fixed location.
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a person, act, or thing that warns or guides.
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a person or thing that illuminates or inspires.
The Bible has been our beacon during this trouble.
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Digital Technology.
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a low-energy radio transmitter at a specific location within a store, museum, office space, etc., which identifies nearby mobile devices in order to send them location-specific messages or collect location-specific data.
There must be a beacon in the luggage aisle because I just got a coupon for this suitcase on my phone.
verb (used with object)
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to serve as a beacon to; warn or guide.
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to furnish or mark with beacons.
a ship assigned to beacon the shoals.
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
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a signal fire or light on a hill, tower, etc, esp one used formerly as a warning of invasion
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a hill on which such fires were lit
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a lighthouse, signalling buoy, etc, used to warn or guide ships in dangerous waters
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short for radio beacon
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a radio or other signal marking a flight course in air navigation
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short for Belisha beacon
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a person or thing that serves as a guide, inspiration, or warning
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a stone set by a surveyor to mark a corner or line of a site boundary, etc
verb
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to guide or warn
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(intr) to shine
Other Word Forms
- beaconless adjective
- unbeaconed adjective
Etymology
Origin of beacon
First recorded before 950; Middle English beken, Old English bēacen “sign, signal”; cognate with Old Frisian bāken, Old Saxon bōkan, Old High German bouhhan
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In what has largely been a trying World Cup for Pakistan, Farhan has stood as a beacon of hope at the top of the order.
From BBC
In just two years, the farm has become a beacon for Black Angelenos and visitors seeking community and a deeper understanding of farming.
From Los Angeles Times
"In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon on light to everyone around him," they said.
From BBC
With its long arches and lights looming over the viaduct, the 6th Street Bridge has become a beacon for Angelenos and the curious.
From Los Angeles Times
That makes us all time travelers of a sort, too, beacons of an increasingly distant era in which it was possible to be unplugged.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
