lamppost

See also: lamp-post

English

Alternative forms

• lamp post

Etymology

From lamp +‎ post.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊst

Noun

lamppost (plural lampposts)

1. The pole that holds up a light so it can illuminate a wide area, such as holds up a streetlight.

   Synonym: lightpost

   • 2023 January 25, Tom Allett, “Sleaford restored to its 'true' identity”, in RAIL, number 975, page 51:

     "What is really good is they haven't just painted the station building, they've done all the lampposts to match as well, right down to the end of the platform.

2. (informal, humorous) A tall, thin person.

   Synonyms: beanpole, long ghost

   • 1985, Vladimir Kornilov, Girls to the Front, page 4:

     You big skinny lamppost. And you're going grey!

Translations

pole that holds up a light

• Arabic: عَمُود مِصْبَاح m (ʕamūd miṣbāḥ), عَمُود إِنَارَة m (ʕamūd ʔināra)

  Moroccan Arabic: ركيزة (rkīza)

• Armenian: լապտերասյուն (hy) (lapterasyun)
• Belarusian: ліхта́рны слуп m (lixtárny slup)
• Bulgarian: лампио́н m (lampión)
• Catalan: farola f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 燈柱／灯柱 (zh) (dēngzhù), 街燈柱／街灯柱 (jiēdēng zhù)

• Czech: kandelábr (cs) m, sloup pouličního osvětlení m
• Danish: lygtepæl c, gadelygte (da) c
• Dutch: lantaarnpaal (nl) m
• Esperanto: stratlanterno
• Estonian: tänavapost
• Finnish: lyhtypylväs (fi)
• French: réverbère (fr) m, lampadaire (fr) m
• Georgian: საფანრე ბოძი (sapanre boʒi)
• German: Laternenpfahl (de) m
• Greek: φανοστάτης (el) m (fanostátis)
• Hungarian: lámpaoszlop (hu)
• Irish: cuaille lampa m, cuaille solais m
• Italian: lampione (it) m
• Japanese: 街灯 (ja) (がいとう, gaitō)
• Korean: 가로등(街路燈) (ko) (garodeung)
• Latvian: apgaismes stabs m
• Lithuanian: žibinto stulpas m
• Maori: pou rama
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lyktestolpe m

• Polish: słup latarni m
• Portuguese: poste de luz m, combustor m
• Romanian: stâlp de felinar m
• Russian: фона́рь (ru) m (fonárʹ), фона́рный столб m (fonárnyj stolb)
• Slovak: kandeláber m, stĺp pouličného osvetlenia m
• Slovene: kandelaber m
• Spanish: farola (es) f, farol (es) m, poste de luz m, poste lumínico m
• Swedish: lyktstolpe (sv) c
• Thai: เสาโคม (sǎo-koom)
• Ukrainian: ліхта́р m (lixtár), ліхта́рний стовп m (lixtárnyj stovp)
• Vietnamese: cột đèn
• Welsh: polyn lamp m

References

• (tall person): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary (as "lamp-post")

Anagrams

• stop lamp, palmtops