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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#m1)

2) «In the spotlight» means getting a lot of attention from people or the news. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#m2)

3) (verb) To spotlight something means to shine a light on it or to draw special attention to it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x1)
- The caretaker fixed the broken spotlight in the hall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x2)
- After winning the spelling bee, Sam was in the spotlight all week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x3)
- The dog ran onto the stage and stole the spotlight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x4)
- Our assembly spotlighted pupils who help others. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x5)
- The famous singer wanted a quiet life out of the spotlight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x6)
- We used a torch as a spotlight for our shadow puppets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/#x7)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/4-time-zones-and-the-date-line/0/)
- [The spotlight effect is the feeling that everyone notices you much more than they really do; most people are busy thinking about themselves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away/7/)
- [The spotlight effect is the feeling that everyone notices you far more than they really do; most people are busy thinking about themselves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/26-the-mind-at-night-replays-worst-case-thinking-and-nightmares/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «spotlight» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spotlight/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.