A lamp on top of a tall pole beside a road, which lights the street at night. Cities have rows of them; they usually switch on by themselves at dusk and off at dawn. The word covers both the lamp itself and the whole pole-and-lamp thing.

A lamp on top of a tall pole beside a road一盞裝在路邊高柱子頂端的燈, which lights the street at night在晚上照亮街道。Cities have rows of them城市裡一排排都是; they usually switch on by themselves at dusk and off at dawn它們通常在黃昏自動打開、天亮自動關掉。The word covers both the lamp itself and the whole pole-and-lamp thing這個字同時指那盞燈本身，也指整根柱子加燈的東西。

You will also see "street light" as two words and "street lamp" or "streetlamp" — all common, all correct, and you can treat them as the same word. "Streetlight" as one word is the most usual spelling in American English.

You will also see "street light" as two words你也會看到分開寫的"street light" and "street lamp" or "streetlamp"還有"street lamp"或"streetlamp" — all common, all correct全部都常見、都正確, and you can treat them as the same word你可以把它們當成同一個字看待。"Streetlight" as one word一個字連寫的"streetlight" is the most usual spelling in American English是美式英文裡最常見的拼法。

Beyond the plain meaning, streetlights show up constantly in stories and songs as a picture of a lonely city night — standing under a streetlight waiting for someone, the orange glow on wet roads. There is also a well-known joke that has become a way of talking about lazy research, "looking under the streetlight": a man searches for his lost keys under the lamp, not because he dropped them there, but because that is where the light is.

Beyond the plain meaning除了字面意思之外, streetlights show up constantly in stories and songs as a picture of a lonely city night路燈常常出現在故事和歌曲裡，當作孤單城市夜晚的畫面 — standing under a streetlight waiting for someone站在路燈下等一個人, the orange glow on wet roads濕路面上橙色的燈光。There is also a well-known joke that has become a way of talking about lazy research還有一個有名的笑話，後來變成形容偷懶研究的說法, "looking under the streetlight"叫「在路燈下找」： a man searches for his lost keys under the lamp一個人在燈下找他弄丟的鑰匙, not because he dropped them there不是因為他把鑰匙掉在那裡, but because that is where the light is而是因為那裡有光。