Dictionary

slave of the lamp en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A genie who is imprisoned in a lamp, as in the tale of Aladdin.
   • In the eyes of Gorgias "the word" was a despot who could do anything, but like a slave of the lamp it would be at the service of those who took his courses. 1971, W. K. C. Guthrie, The Sophists, page 25:
2. (figuratively) A person who does, or is obliged to do, what they are bid; something that dutifully performs virtually any task.
   • The miracles wrought by this slave of the lamp transcend all the wonders conceived by the oriental romancists. 1866, John Cargill Brough, The Fairy Tales of Science, page 306:
3. (humorous) A person who works by lamplight, or works with electrical apparatus.
   • These "slaves of the lamp," as they used to be called, owing to the flash-light instrument upon which they sent the messages, had an equal number of hours on and off duty, and in their leisure hours spent their time in boating. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 174:
   • No more midnight oil — for why should he be a slave of the lamp? No more worry. 2022, Albert V. Harmon, Large Fees and How to Get Them: A book for the private use of physicians:

Forms