Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic
will o' the wisp , a strange light that attracts travellers - noun US, tradition A vegetable, usually a pumpkin, but alternatively a turnip, carved into the form of a face and lighted within by a candle. Associated chiefly with the holiday
Halloween .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Jack ("male given name") + o' + lantern. 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 carved pumpkin in American English is attested in 1834.
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Examples
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If you want the vapor to come out of a pumpkin, carve the jack o'lantern, then place a tall container inside with some dry ice.
The Seattle Times 2011
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If you want the vapor to come out of a pumpkin, carve the jack o'lantern, then place a tall container inside with some dry ice.
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