searchlight

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At night, the crew trained a searchlight across the dark waters to look for growlers—low-floating chunks of ice big enough to puncture a ship.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

The task is a bit like discerning a field of fireflies around a central, massive searchlight.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2024

Using sound like a searchlight, they patrol the chilly depths.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 19, 2023

In one direction, encountering events and people from the past has enabled me to construct and refine historical narratives, to shine a scholarly searchlight on forgotten — or suppressed — stories.

From Salon • Nov. 24, 2022

The searchlight sweeps across the water, lighting up its own circle of vision.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides