lightsaber

Two Star Wars cosplayers wielding lightsabers at the 2010 Tekkoshocon, an anime convention held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

light +‎ saber; first mentioned in the 1977 film Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /laɪt.ˈseɪ.bə(ɹ)/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /laɪt.ˈseɪ.bɚ/
• Hyphenation: light‧sa‧ber

lightsaber (plural lightsabers)

1. (science fiction) A sword having a blade made of a powerful beam of light. [from 1977.]
   • 1977 May 25, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars, written by George Lucas:

     [Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker] Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

   • 2004, Rob N. Hood, Beyond the Wind, Binghamton, N.Y.: Southern Tier Editions/Harrington Park Press, →ISBN, page 1:

     Wielding his flashlight like a lightsaber, Kyle sent golden shafts slicing through the swirling vapors.

   • 2006 September, Steve Tomkins, “Icon of the Month No. 82: Dr Who”, in Simon Jones, editor, Third Way, volume 29, number 7, Harrow, London: Third Way Trust, ISSN 0309-3492, page 24:

     This was the era of Star Wars, the reinvention of science fiction with the homely Luke Skywalker. But even Luke had the Force and a tie-fighter. The Doctor was a humanist, and his spacecraft was an obsolete phone box redolent of bobbies with whistles. He would never resort to lightsabre against villains, preferring to confront them with jelly babies.

   • 2008 November, “Collecting”, in Boys' Life, volume XCVIII, number 11, Irving, Tx.: Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, page 52:

     Poster Power / Get the scheme behind the scene with Star Wars Blueprints: The Ultimate Collection. This boxed set includes five double-sided posters with blueprints of the Death Star, R2-D2, and C-3PO, lightsabers and blasters, Darth Vader and the Millennium Falcon.

• lightsabre (Britain and elsewhere outside the US)

• lightsaber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Gilbreaths, lightsabre