How to Use lightning rod in a Sentence

lightning rod

noun
  • It's served as a lightning rod for protests in the weeks since.
    — Darcy Costello, The Courier-Journal, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Hicks has been something of a lightning rod at city hall for years.
    — Scott Carroll, oregonlive, 2 Apr. 2021
  • This isn’t new to Busch, one of the true lightning rods in the garage.
    — Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2018
  • Not so for these nuptials, which have become a lightning rod for protests.
    — Paolo Santalucia, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2025
  • The death last month has been a lightning rod on issues of mental health, crime and race.
    — Doha Madani, NBC News, 15 June 2023
  • Ozzy was crowned as the genre’s spokesperson, mascot, and lightning rod.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 25 July 2025
  • The result will be either a badge of honor or a lightning rod.
    — New York Times, 21 Sep. 2021
  • But can a $2 million laser compete with a dirt-cheap lightning rod?
    — Byadrian Cho, science.org, 16 Jan. 2023
  • Off the court, Thompson was both a role model and a lightning rod.
    — Joseph White, Houston Chronicle, 31 Aug. 2020
  • Few would argue that Sanders has been a lightning rod since he was drafted.
    — Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
  • The lighthouse has a lightning rod and was undamaged by the strike.
    — Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Yet as the process rolls on, the former Louisville star is a lightning rod in more ways than one.
    — Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Rarely is a reliever, outside of closers, a lightning rod for a fan base.
    — Jorge Castillo Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2020
  • There are standards that have to be followed by those installing lightning rods.
    — Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2023
  • That tracks — a year out from her lightning rod of a Blue Origin flight.
    — Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
  • But the effort has also become a lightning rod.
    — Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Texas has been a lightning rod for the automotive business as of late.
    — Kristin Shaw, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
  • Both lightning and the lightning rod, Maradona, the Hand of God.
    — Fred Lief, Chron, 24 Dec. 2020
  • All the ups and downs set the stage for Harrison, who has been a lightning rod all season.
    — oregonlive, 9 Oct. 2022
  • That was also a bit of a lightning rod, and some of his opinions were again presented as fact-based.
    — Peter Suciu, Forbes, 17 May 2021
  • But the court didn’t rule on the merits of the case, meaning the lightning rod issue is not settled for good.
    — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 13 June 2024
  • The company has become a lightning rod for criticism from both the right and left.
    — Phil Singer, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The tax provisions of the new law have been a lightning rod for conservatives.
    — Jacob Bogage, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Feb. 2023
  • The tax provisions of the new law have been a lightning rod for conservatives.
    — Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Since then, the coach has been a lightning rod for criticism from opponents of the monarchy.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 6 Sep. 2021
  • For the past several months, the board has been a lightning rod of controversy.
    — Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2026
  • The Dodgers have become a lightning rod in the big picture of baseball finances.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 29 June 2026
  • The laser beam passes near the lightning rod on the Säntis Tower.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 16 Jan. 2023
  • Dreyfus became the lightning rod in a clash between two visions of France.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Like a giant lightning rod, the tower gets hit with lightning more than 100 times a year.
    — Byadrian Cho, science.org, 16 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lightning rod.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: