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lightning rod
noun
- a rodlike conductor installed to divert lightning away from a structure by providing a direct path to the ground.
- a person or thing that attracts and absorbs powerful and especially negative or hostile feelings, opinions, etc., thereby diverting such feelings from other targets:
The unpopular supervisor served as a lightning rod for the criticism that should have been aimed at management.
lightning rod
- A grounded metal rod placed high on a structure to conduct electrical current from a lightning strike directly to the ground, preventing the currents from injuring people or animals or from damaging objects. Lightning rods usually have a sharp, pointed tip, since electric lines of force are more highly concentrated around pointed objects, in this case increasing the attractiveness of the rod compared with other nearby objects.
- See also Saint Elmo's fire
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of lightning rod1
Example Sentences
In other words, they are “less a biography than a passionate manifesto, showing how a young man from a rural background suddenly became a lightning rod for divine power.”
O’Brien’s humor during this year’s show was well received, and compared with many comics, he’s not a political lightning rod.
Meanwhile, her affair with Jagger turned her into a tabloid lightning rod.
The Fix Our Forests Act captures political lightning rods for both parties.
Content moderation on social media sites has become a political lightning rod with Republicans accusing Facebook and others of censoring conservative speech.
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