ProbableNamed from the place
like Blackpool Illuminations
adjective · first attested 20th century
An entire seaside light festival, reduced to a simile for a red face.
Lit up far more brightly than the occasion calls for.
53.8167°N -3.0500°W · Q170377
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 20th century
- Part of speech
- adjective
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Blackpool
- In English
like Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool has strung miles of lights along its promenade most autumns since 1879, originally to stretch the holiday season past summer. British speakers use the display as a measuring stick for anything garishly illuminated, from an overdecorated house to someone blushing.
United Kingdom
All 108 entries 107 more words from United Kingdom
badmintonThe sport is named for an English country house.BadmintoncheddarThe cheese is named for a gorge village, not a brand.CheddarsandwichThe meal is named for an earl. The earl is named for a town in Kent.SandwichpaisleyThe pattern is from Kashmir. The English name is a Scottish mill town.PaisleybedlamChaos is a worn-down pronunciation of Bethlehem.Bethlem HospitalrugbyThe game is named for the school that played it.RugbytweedThe cloth may be a river, or a misread word for twill.River TweedascotThe tie is named for a Berkshire racecourse.Ascot