From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlimelightlime‧light /ˈlaɪmlaɪt/ noun [singular, uncountable] FAMOUSa situation in which someone receives a lot of attention, especially from newspapers, television etcin/out of the limelight Tad loves being in the limelight. The president’s wife wanted to stay out of the limelight. She’s afraid this new actor will steal the limelight from her. his few moments of limelight in front of the cameras
Examples from the Corpus
limelight• Nader is relishing the leverage and the limelight.• He gave the Bruins another scorer, more size, more rebounding, and the actor in him enjoyed the limelight.• The force is rightly stepping back from the limelight.• You're presenting a message, not hogging the limelight!• The city a secure armed camp, Daley was enjoying himself and the glow of the limelight.• Otherwise, staff members can feel they are doing all the real work while the boss is usurping the limelight.• Do you feel a bit disappointed that they've come along and perhaps stolen your limelight?in/out of the limelight• Locked out of the limelight, the trio hunkered down in a recording studio.• By 1974, Devlin was out of Parliament but not out of the limelight.Origin limelight (1800-1900) → LIME12 + light; because originally the light was produced by burning lime 