Meanings
nounhandlamp (plural handlamps)
plural handlamps · alternative hand lamp · alternative hand-lamp
- A small lamp carried in the hand.
The operator went out on to the platform with his handlamp and waved it in the traditional "wash-out" signal across the body. The engineer had been expecting this and responded at once with an acknowledging honk on the horn before bringing this huge, 16-car train gently to a stand at the platform.
1961 July, J. Geoffrey Todd, “Impressions of railroading in the United States:Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 424
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
handlamp. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handlamp
MLA
“handlamp.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handlamp. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handlamp,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handlamp.
Source: handlamp on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.