How to Use lightning rod in a Sentence

lightning rod

noun
  • Texas has been a lightning rod for the automotive business as of late.
    Kristin Shaw, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
  • That includes the blue one that’s been an occasional lightning rod.
    Michael Casagrande | McAsagrande@al.com, al, 22 Feb. 2021
  • The video shows the electricity reaching from the sky and up from a lightning rod until a thin connection appears.
    Todd Nelson, Star Tribune, 12 Feb. 2021
  • But over the past year that tradition has become a lightning rod within the Texas community.
    Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 2 Mar. 2021
  • Affordable housing is a lightning rod in Chandler that has drawn massive backlash from residents.
    Sam Kmack, The Arizona Republic, 8 July 2024
  • In-state recruiting is always going to be a lightning rod topic for IU fans, and Miller did well in this regard.
    Matthew Glenesk, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Mar. 2021
  • Always a lightning rod for controversy, Gosar has drawn even more attention for his fringe views since the 2020 election.
    Ronald J. Hansen, The Arizona Republic, 27 Feb. 2021
  • The Times’s media ambitions have also intensified its status as a cultural lightning rod.
    New York Times, 14 Feb. 2021
  • Petty disputes also got in the way of the lightning rod.
    IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr. 2023
  • The laser beam passes near the lightning rod on the Säntis Tower.
    John Timmer, Ars Technica, 16 Jan. 2023
  • Hicks has been something of a lightning rod at city hall for years.
    Scott Carroll, oregonlive, 2 Apr. 2021
  • The death last month has been a lightning rod on issues of mental health, crime and race.
    Doha Madani, NBC News, 15 June 2023
  • The lighthouse has a lightning rod and was undamaged by the strike.
    Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 3 Aug. 2023
  • All the ups and downs set the stage for Harrison, who has been a lightning rod all season.
    oregonlive, 9 Oct. 2022
  • 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 result will be either a badge of honor or a lightning rod.
    New York Times, 21 Sep. 2021
  • Because Jordan is such a lightning rod for the left, the tweet earned O'Connor nearly 8,000 retweets.
    Dan Merica, CNN, 8 July 2021
  • But can a $2 million laser compete with a dirt-cheap lightning rod?
    Byadrian Cho, science.org, 16 Jan. 2023
  • Like a giant lightning rod, the tower gets hit with lightning more than 100 times a year.
    Byadrian Cho, science.org, 16 Jan. 2023
  • Youssef’s words struck a chord, as the Israel-Hamas War is a lightning rod in Hollywood.
    Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Part of the interest in this work is the tension between those shingles and the amber-glass orb on the lightning rod.
    Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2022
  • The movie had been in theaters for all of 24 hours — plenty of time to become a cultural lightning rod.
    Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 28 July 2023
  • Phillips has been a lightning rod for frustrated Bears fans.
    Andrew Seligman, ajc, 2 Sep. 2022
  • The concept known as critical race theory is the new lightning rod of the GOP.
    Bryan Anderson, Star Tribune, 24 June 2021
  • The tax provisions of the new law have been a lightning rod for conservatives.
    Jacob Bogage, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Feb. 2023
  • But Cruz was a lightning rod since well before Trump’s defeat.
    Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 22 Apr. 2021
  • 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
  • Rollins, 50, has emerged as a lightning rod in the national debate over crime and policing.
    Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2021
  • The Tower of the Americas pierces the San Antonio sky like a lightning rod.
    Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 29 Dec. 2022
  • There are standards that have to be followed by those installing lightning rods.
    Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, 28 Mar. 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.

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