spotlight

«spotlight» in Mova's school dictionary: a strong lamp that shines a narrow, bright beam onto one… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a spotlight, spotlights; the spotlight); verb (spotlight, spotlights, spotlighted or spotlit, spotlighting)

meaning for a pupil

1) A spotlight is a strong lamp that shines a narrow, bright beam onto one person or area, especially on a stage. tree →

2) «In the spotlight» means getting a lot of attention from people or the news. tree →

3) (verb) To spotlight something means to shine a light on it or to draw special attention to it. tree →

sense in the lessons

In drama and the school play, the spotlight shows the audience where to look. In science, a spotlight is an example of light travelling in straight lines and making a bright circle. In everyday life and the news, someone «in the spotlight» is being watched and talked about, which can feel exciting or stressful. Phrases: «in the spotlight», «steal the spotlight», «shine the spotlight on», «out of the spotlight».

examples

• The spotlight followed Mia as she sang her solo. tree →
• The caretaker fixed the broken spotlight in the hall. tree →
• After winning the spelling bee, Sam was in the spotlight all week. tree →
• The dog ran onto the stage and stole the spotlight. tree →
• Our assembly spotlighted pupils who help others. tree →
• The famous singer wanted a quiet life out of the spotlight. tree →
• We used a torch as a spotlight for our shadow puppets. tree →

note

Countable noun: a spotlight, two spotlights; «the spotlight» for public attention. Past of the verb: «spotlighted» or «spotlit». It is one word, not «spot light».

In the corpora

• The Earth turns 360 degrees in 24 hours, 15 degrees an hour, so noon slides westwards around the planet like a spotlight.
• The spotlight effect is the feeling that everyone notices you much more than they really do; most people are busy thinking about themselves.
• The spotlight effect is the feeling that everyone notices you far more than they really do; most people are busy thinking about themselves.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «spotlight» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.