drop light

plural drop lights · alternative droplight

1. A lamp that is suspended, for example, by a cable.

   A single drop light burned far back, beyond an open, once-gilt elevator.

   1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 185

   1. Such a lamp on a retractable cable, suitable for workshops and garages, where the light can easily be taken down underneath cars, trucks, locomotives, machinery, and so on, then easily put away in an overhead position.

      Synonyms: trouble light, rough service light

2. railwaysA window in a train carriage that is opened by pushing it downward into the door.

   Ventilation was by louvres and brass grilles over the windows and by droplights in the end doors.

   1965, Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, Railway carriages in the British Isles: from 1830 to 1914, page 58

   2 more examples

   The sliding door, which is fitted with a drop light, is shrouded with bristle-type draught excluders.

   1954 February, “Third Class Corridor Brake Coaches for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, pages 132-133

   The side doors to the cab have been replaced by droplights and the train will not start unless these are closed or within a few inches of the closed position.

   1964, The Indian Railway Gazette, volume 62, number 6, page 142

   Synonyms: drop window