jack-o'-lantern

• Jack O'Lantern

Originally, a night watchman who carried a lantern. (See Jack)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæk.əʊˌlæn.tən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒæk.oʊˌlæn.tɚn/, /ˈdʒæk.əˌlæn.tɚn/

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jack-o'-lantern (plural jack-o'-lanterns)

1. A carved pumpkin whose top and stem have been cut out and interior removed, leaving a hollow shell that is then decorated to represent a face, illuminated from within by a candle.
2. (archaic) A will o' the wisp.
   • Lowell

     [newspaper speculations] supplying so many more jack-o'-lanterns to the future historian

• 2001 — Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age : A Romance, paperback ed., p.218

  He had a jocose jack-o'-lantern grin, big crooked nicotine-stained teeth, and a full droopy dark moustache and wiry whiskers hiding a weak chin. (attributive use)

• will o' the wisp