incandescent lamp
    n 1: electric lamp consisting of a transparent or translucent
         glass housing containing a wire filament (usually tungsten)
         that emits light when heated by electricity [syn: light
         bulb, lightbulb, bulb, incandescent lamp, electric
         light, electric-light bulb]

Incandescent \In`can*des"cent\, a. [L. incandecens, -entis, p.
   pr. of incandescere to become warm or hot; pref. in- in +
   candescere to become of a glittering whiteness, to become red
   hot, incho. fr. candere to be of a glittering whiteness: cf.
   F. incandescent. See Candle.]
   White, glowing, or luminous, with intense heat; as,
   incandescent carbon or platinum; hence, clear; shining;
   brilliant.
   [1913 Webster]

         Holy Scripture become resplendent; or, as one might
         say, incandescent throughout.            --I. Taylor.
   [1913 Webster]

   Incandescent lamp, Incandescent light, Incandescent
   light bulb (Elec.), a kind of lamp in which the light is
      produced by a thin filament of conducting material, now
      usually tungsten, but originally carbon, contained in a
      vacuum or an atmosphere of inert gas within a glass bulb,
      and heated to incandescence by an electric current. It was
      inventerd by Thomas Edison, and was once called the
      Edison lamp; -- called also incandescence lamp, and
      glowlamp. This is one of the two most common sources of
      electric light, the other being the fluorescent light,
      fluorescent lamp or fluorescent bulb.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

Tungsten lamp \Tung"sten lamp\
   An electric glow lamp having filaments of metallic tungsten,
   and contained in a glass bulb which is evacuated or has an
   inert gas, to avoid oxidation of the tungsten; a common form
   of light bulb. Such lamps, owing to the refractory nature of
   the metal, may be maintained at a very high temperature and
   require an expenditure of only about 1.25 watts per candle
   power, depending on the total wattage and the design of the
   bulb. By mid-20th century tungsten lamps became the most
   common type of incandescent (as contrasted with fluorescent)
   lamp; thus the phrase

   incandescent lamp or

   incandescent light typically refers to a tungsten lamp.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]