From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbeaconbea‧con /ˈbiːkən/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 TTa light that is put somewhere to warn or guide people, ships, vehicles, or aircraft2 TCBTTa radio or radar signal used by aircraft or boats to help them find their position and direction3 HELP especially literary a person, idea etc that guides or encourages youbeacon of The education program offers a beacon of hope to these children.4 FIREa fire on top of a hill used in the past as a signal → Belisha beacon
Examples from the Corpus
beacon• Now, one characteristic shines like a beacon in a storm, like the sun breaking through clouds.• It might have been an airport beacon back on Earth, and he stared at it with a tightening of the throat.• Soon they may be virtually invisible except for a discreet beacon.• Like a lighthouse beacon, this magnetic field has guided ocean voyagers for hundreds of years.• Navigation was helped by a radio beacon set up by the Army on the island.• When you first tune a station frequency, check the identification twice to make sure you have the right beacon.• The International Hotel eviction was the beacon that drew attention to the problems of affordable housing, homelessness and poverty.beacon of• Havel has become his country's beacon of democracy and hope.Origin beacon Old English beacen “sign” 