Yehudi lights

noun

Lights placed under aeroplanes that raise their brightness to the same level as that of the sky, as a form of camouflage.

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Meanings

nounYehudi lights pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyrareLights placed under aeroplanes that raise their brightness to the same level as that of the sky, as a form of camouflage.

Origin

Developed, in part, by the US Navy's "Project Yehudi" from 1943 onwards. Yehudi in then-contemporary slang meant "the little man who wasn't there". The slang term may perhaps allude to the popular catchphrase and novelty song Who's Yehoodi? The catchphrase is said to have originated when violinist Yehudi Menuhin was a guest on the popular radio program of Bob Hope, where sidekick Jerry Colonna, apparently finding the name itself humorous, repeatedly asked "who's Yehudi?"

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Cite this entry
APA

Yehudi lights. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Yehudi%20lights

MLA

“Yehudi lights.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Yehudi%20lights. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Yehudi lights,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Yehudi%20lights.

Source: Yehudi lights on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.