lampshade

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a covering around a lamp that softens, reduces, or directs its light

   The green lampshade cast a muted circle of light over the desk.

2. 2
   verb

   to draw deliberate attention within a story to an implausible, incongruous, or clichéd element, often humorously

   The dialogue lampshades the unlikely coincidence before the plot moves on.

A compound of lamp + shade. The literal noun names a shade fitted to a lamp. The later verb arose in commentary on fiction from the image of "hanging a lampshade" on an implausible feature so that the work openly calls attention to it.

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