Glossary / General

cigarette lighter

11 Episode Mentions

Too Afraid to Ask

A cigarette lighter is a socket in cars that you can use to plug in chargers for your phone or other devices. It used to be for lighting cigarettes, but now it's mostly for charging.

Technical Definition

A cigarette lighter is a device in vehicles that was originally designed to heat a small coil to light cigarettes. Nowadays, it's commonly used as a power outlet for charging devices via adapters.

Hear It Discussed

"[313.8s] Oh,yeah,thatplugsinthecigarettelighter, andit'sreallycool becauseitshowswhatfrequencytotunetheradioto. [322.6s] SoittakestheBluetoothsignalandpumpsitintotheradioatthatfrequency."
Modern Tech Upgrades For A C5 Corvette Without Cutting In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show 05:13

"if the car's got a cigarette lighter, you can go out and purchase for $10, $15 ... a cheap digital voltometer, hook up a tap, tap it into the cigarette lighter"
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Classic Car Doctor - August 22, 2015 - Hour 1 Ron Ananian The Car Doctor 24:59

"volt socket, but they don't necessarily have a cigarette lighter. So they have what looks like the cigarette part, like a wee blanket plug. Yes, he has mounted the bass controller knob underneath it."
EP155 - Dubshed Hangover 2026 RELOAD PODCAST 05:19