deadlight

See also: dead-light

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

dead +‎ light

Noun

deadlight (plural deadlights)

  1. (nautical) A strong (often wooden) shutter fitted over a porthole, that can be closed in bad weather to keep water out and discourage the glass windows from breaking.
  2. (nautical) A deck prism, a device to allow light into the cabin of boat through the deck.
  3. (figuratively) An eyelid.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 6, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.
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