candle
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A light source made up of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kanduhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkændəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
Stick of wax with a wick in the middle
The protruding, removable portion of a filter, particularly a water filter.
verb
transitive
To check (an item, such as an envelope) by holding it between a light source and the eye.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
Used this way, candle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use candle
- “She lit a scented candle to make the room smell nice.”
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.