warlight

English

Etymology

war +‎ light

Noun

warlight (uncountable)

1. The light produced by acts of war, such as exploding bombs.
   • 1896, Loomis' Musical and Masonic Journal - Volumes 30-31, page 221:

     Methinks I see their sabers as they flashed in battle's sun, I seem to see the warlight fall on bayonet and gun; Before the farm-house gate I stand and listen for their tread, Forgetting that the mighty camps are guarded by the dead;

   • 1917, Catherine Gasquoine Hartley, Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes, page 32:

     The issues of life and death have by the lurid warlight been forced upon our attention.

   • 2018, Michael Ondaatje, Warlight, →ISBN, page 81:

     We passed industrial buildings, their lights muted, faint as stars, as if we were in a time capsule of the war years when blackouts and curfews had been in effect, when there was just warlight and only blind barges were allowed to move along this stretch of river.

2. A gleam in the eyes that reflects a fighting spirit.
   • 1894, James John Haldane Burgess, The Viking Path: A Tale of the White Christ, page 27:

     They saw the warlight gleaming in his eyes as he looked round the ting.

   • 1912, The Boys Own Annual Vol 35, page 214:

     Cannot you prove your suspicions to be either false or true ? " asked the Head Master, making a mental note of the warlight in the boy's eyes.

   • 1931, Marion Cran, Gardens in America, page 257:

     I saw Hetty looking at me with the warlight in her eyes and felt virtuous because the dress I had was dark enough, heaven knew!