LIGHTNING ROD

PRONUNCIATION: (LYT-ning rod)

MEANING: noun:
1. A grounded metal rod placed at the top of a structure to protect it from lightning.
2. A person or thing that frequently attracts criticism.
3. Someone who diverts criticism from another.

ETYMOLOGY: From lightning (a flash of light) and rod (a stick or pole), from Old English leoht and rodd. Earliest documented use: 1770.
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LIGHTING ROD - a stick with one or more light sources at intervals along it, to be mounted on a wall or under a shelf

LIGHTEN, INC ROD - a company that manufactures illumination devices

LIGHT NINA ROD - a device used by Al Hirshfeld to hide the name of his daughter in many a Sunday Times theater-page caricature in the 1950s and 1960s