lightning rod

• lightning-rod

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪtnɪŋ ˌɹɒd/

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lightning rod (plural lightning rods)

2. A metallic conductor that is attached to a high point of a building and leads to the ground to protect the building from damage by lightning.
   • 1856, Herman Melville, The Lightning Rod Man:

     "My special business is to travel the country for orders for lightning-rods. This is my specimen rod;" tapping his staff; "I have the best of references"-fumbling in his pockets. "In Criggan last month, I put up three-and-twenty rods on only five buildings."

3. (figuratively) A person or thing that is a target for negative reactions and distracts criticism from another target.
   • 2023 October 13, Rory Carroll, “‘The hope we had is gone’: how 20 months of stasis has paralysed Northern Ireland”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Another factor was that when the two governments changed Stormont’s rules in 2006 they left the dual premiership as the “lightning rod for other difficulties”, said [Brendan] O’Leary.

   • 2025 September 6, Catherine Pearson, “She Started the Debate About Kids and Phones. Now She Wants to End It.”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Though hardly a novel claim nowadays […] it made [Jean] Twenge a lightning rod in the research world, where some academics remain skeptical of the panic over smartphones.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

• lightning conductor (British)

• lightning rod on Wikipedia.Wikipedia