lightship

2 definitions found

lightship - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  lightship \light"ship`\, Light-ship
  \Light"-ship`\(l[imac]t"sh[i^]p`), n. (Naut.)
     A vessel equipped like a lighthouse, carrying at the masthead
     a brilliant light, and moored off a shoal or place of
     dangerous navigation where a permanent lighthouse would be
     impracticable, to serve as a guide for mariners; as, the
     Ambrose lightship off New York was rammed and damaged in 1950
     by the Santa Monica.
     [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5]

lightship - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  lightship
      n 1: a ship equipped like a lighthouse and anchored where a
           permanent lighthouse would be impracticable