1. vt.使明亮；照亮　 give light to; throw light on
2. vt.装饰　 ornament (buildings, streets, etc.) with lights for a special occasion
3. vt.说明，阐明　 make clear

　～ a difficult passage　阐明一段难懂的文字
　～ the picnic areas　照亮野餐地
　～ the room　照亮房间
　～ the sky　照亮天空
　～ the stage　照亮舞台
　～ a street building　用彩灯装饰街道建筑物
　～ brightly　照得更亮
　～ brilliantly　照得灯火辉煌
　～ electrically　用电照明
　～ greatly　大受启发
　～ indirectly　间接启发
　～ partially　不完全地照亮
　～ poorly　光线暗淡
　～ singularly　大受启发
　～ by〔with〕　用…照明，用…阐明
　～ by oil lamps　用油灯照明
　～ for　为…照明，给（某人）阐明

　The lamp illuminated the room.　灯照亮了房间。
　A lot of electric lamps illuminated the stage.　许多盏灯照着舞台。
　Torches illuminated the picnic areas.　火把照亮了野餐地。
　The sun illuminates the sky.　太阳照亮了天空。
　Footnotes illuminated the difficult passages of the text.　脚注阐明了文中难解的段落。
　Our interesting teacher could illuminate almost any subject we studied.　我们这位有趣的老师几乎能解释清楚我们所学的所有科目。
　The whole city was illuminated in celebration of National Day.　庆祝国庆节之际，全市一片灯火辉煌。
　The garden was illuminated by hundreds of small lamps.　数百个小灯泡照亮了花园。
　Some old books and manuscripts were illuminated.　有些古书及古旧抄稿配有各种装饰。
　We were greatly illuminated by the discussion.　那次讨论使我们受到很大启发。

 ♣ illuminate for　(v.+prep.)
1. 为…照明 give light for (sth)
　The streets were illuminated for the celebration.　街上张灯结彩准备庆祝。
2. 给（某人）阐明 make clear for (sb)
　The professor illuminated the problem for his students.　教授为他的学生阐明了那个问题。
 ♣ illuminate with　(v.+prep.)
1. 以…照明 brighten; give light to (sth) with (sth)
　They illuminated the square with bright lights.　他们用明亮的灯光把广场照得通亮。
　We illuminate the enemy plane with searchlights in order to shoot at it.　我们用探照灯照射敌机为的是向其射击。
2. 用…阐明 make clear with (sth)
　He illuminated his statement with many examples.　他用许多实例阐明自己的论点。

 ♣ illuminate, enlighten, illumine, illustrate, light, lighten
　这组词的共同意思是“照亮”。它们之间的区别是：illuminate指用光线照亮黑暗处，引申可指启发、阐明复杂或难懂的问题；illumine与illuminate同义，多为文学和诗歌用语；light多指照亮道路或某一处所；lighten也指使黑暗处明亮一些，常引申作诗歌用语；enlighten原指照耀，现只用于引申义指启发、开导或使人摆脱偏见、迷信等；illustrate指增加光泽，引申指美化或润色。