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Jack-o'-lantern

//ˈdʒæk.əʊˌlæn.tən// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A will o' the wisp. archaic

    "[Newspaper speculations] supplying so many more jack-o'-lanterns to the future historian"

  2. 2
    lantern carved from a pumpkin wordnet
  3. 3
    A carved pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decorated to represent a face, illuminated from within by a candle. It is a symbol of Halloween.

    "He had a jocose jack-o'-lantern grin, big crooked nicotine-stained teeth, and a full droopy dark moustache and wiry whiskers hiding a weak chin. (attributive use)"

  4. 4
    a pale light sometimes seen at night over marshy ground wordnet
  5. 5
    A carved pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decorated to represent a face, illuminated from within by a candle. It is a symbol of Halloween.; A similar item made from a turnip

Etymology

Originally, a night watchman who carried a lantern. See Jack. First attested as a term for ignis fatuus in English folklore in the 1660s, mostly in East Anglia but also in southwestern England. The sense of a carved pumpkin (sense 2) is first attested in 1834.

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