signaln.

Brit.

/ˈsɪɡnl/, U.S.

/ˈsɪɡn(ə)l/

Forms: Middle English–1700s signall, Middle English– signal, 1600s signol, 1600s sinal.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French signal; Latin signale.

Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French signal distinguishing mark (beginning of the 14th cent. in Old French as signiau ), badge, symbol (late 14th cent., earliest in specific sense ‘attribute of a saint’), gesture intended to convey information (1456), object used as a sign to convey warning, direction, or information (1665 in the passage translated in quot. 1687 at sense 5b), alteration (after signe sign n.) of Old French, Middle French seignal , seignau (a1209, earliest in sense ‘cross guard of a sword’) < post-classical Latin signale (see below); and partly (ii) < post-classical Latin signale signboard (1205; 1139 as senale ), sign (1247), use as noun of neuter of signalis meant to give a sign (in a text on land-surveying, of uncertain date, but perhaps 6th cent.) < classical Latin signum sign n. + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare also post-classical Latin signalis boundary mark (9th cent. as sinalis in a Spanish source), use as noun of masculine (or feminine) of signalis . Compare Old Occitan senhal (14th cent. or earlier), Catalan senyal (14th cent.), Spanish señal (first half of the 12th cent. as †senal ), Portuguese sinal (1130; also †signal ), Italian segnale (second half of the 13th cent.; also †signale ); also Dutch signaal (1588 as †signael ), German Signal (17th cent.). Compare earlier sign n., with which the word shows large-scale semantic overlap.Rare before the end of the 16th cent. Senses 2 and 4 are not paralleled in French until later (sense 2, 1540 as signail ; sense 4, 1718). With sense 3, which is not paralleled in either French or Latin, compare sign n. 10a.

†1.

a. A badge, an emblem; a symbol. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > [noun] > a symbol

tokeningc888

tokenc890

print1340

bannerc1380

signingc1390

signala1393

signc1400

similitude?c1400

type?a1500

sacrament1534

resemblance1548

adumbration1552

character1569

picture1580

symbol1590

moral?1594

attribute1600

symbolization1603

allegory1606

emblema1616

hieroglyph1646

simile1682

documentor1684

symptoma1687

monument1728

metaphor1836

presentation1866

symbolisms1876

ideogram1897

picture message1912

figura1959

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 1668 In his hond He bar the signal of his lond With fisshes thre.

1601 W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca sig. A5 His other signols of authoritie, the deckings of a corrupt minde.

1651 R. Lilburne Let. 25 Aug. in G. Ormerod Tracts Mil. Proc. Lancs. Great Civil War 307 The Enemies word was Jesu, and their signal a White about their Arme, our word was Providence, and signal Greens.

b. A mark of distinction or honour. Obsolete.

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the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > [noun] > conferring of honour > an) honour(s) or distinction

worshipOE

mensk?c1225

pre-eminence1433

honoura1500

pre-eminency1555

a feather in the cap, hat1581

garland1591

honorarium1609

honorary1610

blushing honours1623

signal1655

gayness1670

honourability1694

honourable mention1797

special mention1886

1655 M. Carter Anal. Honor in Honor Rediv. 3 Virtue being still admired and honoured, and some signall put upon it.

1685 J. Bunyan Questions Seventh-day-Sabbath v. 85 Now what another signal was here [i.e. at the day of Pentecost] put upon the first day of the week.

2. An indication or token of a fact, quality, future occurrence, etc.; a sign, a symbol. Also as a mass noun. Frequently with of, that.

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society > communication > indication > [noun] > an indication or sign

tokeningc888

fingereOE

senyeOE

markOE

showing?c1225

blossomc1230

signa1325

signifyingc1384

evidencea1393

notea1398

forbysena1400

kenninga1400

knowinga1400

showerc1400

unningc1400

signala1413

signification?a1425

demonstrancec1425

cenyc1440

likelinessc1450

ensign1474

signifure?a1475

outshowinga1500

significativea1500

witter1513

precedent1518

intimation1531

signifier1532

meith1533

monument1536

indicion?1541

likelihood1541

significator1554

manifest1561

show1561

evidency1570

token-teller1574

betokener1587

calendar1590

instance1590

testificate1590

significant1598

crisis1606

index1607

impression1613

denotementa1616

story1620

remark1624

indicium1625

denotation1633

indice1636

signum1643

indiction1653

trace1656

demonstrator1657

indication1660

notationa1661

significatory1660

indicator1666

betrayer1678

demonstration1684

smell1691

wittering1781

notaa1790

blazonry1850

sign vehicle1909

marker1919

rumble1927

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 818 The myghty tresses of here sonnyssh hers..hangen al aboute here eris Which yaf hym [sc. Pandarus] verray signal of matere [v.r. martyre] Of deth which þat here herte gan desire.

1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. F5^v Since last the sunne Lookt from the hiest period of the sky, Giuing a signall of the dayes mid noone.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. iv. 3 The wearie sonne..Giues signall of a goodlie day to morrow.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. iv. 121 In signall of my loue to thee.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. iv The bread and wine which were but the signalls or visible signes..were made the things signified.

1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 12 'Tis a Signal that he has no Thought of Mercy in Store for them.

1725 D. Defoe Voy. round World (1840) 320 All this while we saw no people, nor any signals of any.

1778 V. Knox Ess. II. xxii. 224 To whom we wish to display some signal of our love.

1820 P. B. Shelley Ode to Naples 113 The signal and the seal..Art thou of all these hopes.

1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xviii. 158 The arrival of the piano..was a signal of amity on his part.

1895 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 23 Mar. 434/2 The red and angry appearance of the intestine I now recognize as a signal of the gravest importance.

1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 190/3 (advt.) That first ‘snuffling’ is more than an embarrassing annoyance. It is a signal that you have taken cold.

1969 Jet 7 Aug. 26 It [sc. the moon landing] was an example of man's self-glorification and..a signal of the end of ‘this system of things’.

1999 Black Enterprise Aug. 44/1 Management is investing in technologies or production methods that are increasing earnings—a signal that there's a nice growth spurt ahead.

†3. A divine act, a wonder. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > attributes of god(s) > power > act or manifestation of

tokenc897

God's tokenOE

signa1325

signalc1450

show1548

c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 459 Tho saugh I..alle the mervelouse signals Of the goddys celestials How Mawgree Iuno Eneas..Acheved alle his aventure For Iupiter tooke of hym cure [etc.].

a. A (usually prearranged) gesture, action, or sound acting as the prompt for a particular action, esp. a military manoeuvre. Also figurative: an immediate cause of movement, action, etc.

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society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun]

signal?1576

society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal > as agreed for concerted action

signal?1576

signal word1645

?1576 G. Gascoigne Spoyle of Antwerpe sig. B.ii But now vpon a signall geuen, [the castle] ceased to shoote any more, for feare to hurt their owne men.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. iii. 116 Attending but the signall to beginne.

1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. E^v Presently they gaue the Signall to Hernand Teillo, that lay vnder the towne with his ambuscado.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 705 All obey'd The wonted signal .

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 186 The Signal of Battle being given with two Cannon Shot, we marched in Order of Battalia.

1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives I. 132 The pæan..was the signal to advance.

1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iii Go on deck, and tell me if thou seest The signal flying for close line of battle.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xix. 134 This was the signal for a grasp all round.

1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vi. §5. 318 The meeting of the Emperor [Charles V] with Henry at Southampton gave the signal for a renewal of the war.

1904 G. K. Chesterton Napoleon of Notting Hill iv. i. 201 To your quarters and await Captain Bruce's signal to advance.

1951 Life 9 July 22 Malik's speech was the signal for a week of speculation, suspicion, and guarded comment.

2000 E. Hunt et al. South Pacific 754 On a signal, about 20 painted male dancers..came into the natsaro to begin the canoe dance.

b. Whist and Bridge. A prearranged convention of bidding or play intended to convey information to one's partner. Cf. suit preference signal n. at suit n. Compounds 2a, trump signal n. at trump n.² Compounds 2.

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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > actions or tactics

echo1862

signal1864

Vienna Coup1864

Peter1885

Bath coup1897

promotion1900

finesse1902

switch1921

false-carding1923

squeeze1926

squeeze play1926

suicide squeeze1931

pseudo-squeeze1932

throw-in1932

suit preference signal1934

underlead1934

psyching1938

ruff and discard1939

hold-up1945

upper cut1955

safety play1959

1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 11 Blue Peter.—A signal for trumps, allowable in modern play.

1885 R. A. Proctor How to play Whist ix. 98 An original signal..should mean..that the signaller is..very strong in trumps.

1939 N. de V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. 140 High-low play as a signal to the partner is termed a peter if it occurs in a suit contract and an echo at No-Trumps.

1998 Eng. Bridge Aug. 15/3 So the high-low signal to show a doubleton had come into general use by the turn of the century.

2006 S. Auken I love this Game vi. 73 The best you can do is have a general principle and an understanding in your partnership whether it is the sender or the receiver of the signal who is supposed to guess in this kind of situation.

c. American Football. A coded verbal instruction given by a player, typically the quarterback, to other team members which specifies the next play or formation. Cf. signal caller n. at Compounds 3, to call (the) signals at Phrases.

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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres

rush1857

punt-out1861

goal-kicking1871

safety1879

safety touchdown1879

scrimmage1880

rushing1882

safety touch1884

touchback1884

forward pass1890

run1890

blocking1891

signal1891

fake1893

onside kick1895

tandem-play1895

pass play1896

spiral1896

shift1901

end run1902

straight-arm1903

quarterback sneak1904

runback1905

roughing1906

Minnesota shift1910

quarterbacking1910

snap-back1910

pickoff1912

punt return1914

screen forward pass1915

screen pass1920

power play1921

sneak1921

passback1922

snap1922

defence1923

reverse1924

carry1927

lateral1927

stiff-arm1927

zone1927

zone defence1927

submarine charge1928

squib1929

block1931

pass rushing1933

safetying1933

trap play1933

end-around1934

straight-arming1934

trap1935

mousetrap1936

buttonhook1938

blitzing1940

hand-off1940

pitchout1946

slant1947

strike1947

draw play1948

shovel pass1948

bootleg1949

option1950

red dog1950

red-dogging1951

rollout1951

submarine1952

sleeper pass1954

draw1956

bomb1960

swing pass1960

pass rush1962

blitz1963

spearing1964

onsides kick1965

takeaway1967

quarterback sack1968

smash-mouth1968

veer1968

turn-over1969

bump-and-run1970

scramble1971

sack1972

nose tackle1975

nickel1979

pressure1981

1891 W. Camp Amer. Football 123 The important fact to be remembered in selecting a system of signals is that it is far more demoralizing to confuse your own team than to mystify your opponents.

1946 Sat. Evening Post 9 Mar. 10/2 Tele addicts contend they see football better than from any seat in the stadium, and can lip-read the signals.

1956 A. Danzig Hist. Amer. Football 211 Illinois began the huddle because too often it was impossible to hear the signals.

1992 J. M. Juran Juran on Quality by Design vii. 226 The Giant's defensive quarterback called out the signal ‘green’.

2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Sept. c23/3 Goodell is exploring putting hearing devices in other offensive players' helmets so they would be able to hear the quarterback's signals despite the roar of the crowd.

a. A gesture, action, sound, etc., intended to convey warning, direction, or information; an intimation.

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society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal

tokeningc888

tokena1000

signc1384

watch1578

signal1590

signet1590

tattoo1644

trumpet-note1813

trumpet-call1909

1590 A. Munday tr. N. de Herberay First Bk. Amadis of Gaule xv. f. 77 Faire and softly did Amadis knock thereon with his finger..and when she heard the louing signall of hir friend, she awaked Mabila.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 62 ^v I..being shypp'd, gaue signall with my hand, Vp to the Cliffe where I did see thee stand.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 72 The Son gave signal high To the bright Minister that watchd, hee blew His Trumpet.

1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 8 We likewise made signals to the other ships.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 12 The Master..ordered to fire a Gun as a Signal of Distress.

1732 T. Lediard tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos II. ix. 281 The garrison beat..a signal of surrender.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. i. 9 Ellena..as she drew nearer to Olivia, gave a signal, and passed on to her cell.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxiii. 111 It was a keen and warning look, And well the Chief the signal took.

1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island 119 If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man's dead.

1896 Law Times Rep. 73 615/1 A bell rang which was a signal..that a train was coming.

1910 Automobile 13 Jan. 125/1 When he [sc. an automobilist] has sounded a signal he in part frees himself from legal responsibilities.

1944 E. Blyton Five run away Together (1949) xvii. 146 I saw a light out to sea last night—maybe that's a signal that the smugglers were leaving something in the wreck for the Sticks to fetch.

2002 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 16 Jan. 17 A search helicopter saw a signal made from their reflective surfboard covers.

b. An object used as a sign to convey warning, direction, or information.

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society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > thing or apparatus used for

signal1687

disc1856

signaller1872

shape1879

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. lxi. 94 There is a small Church in the Sea,..which serves for a Light-house and Signal [Fr. signal].

1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. ii. 84 When the Surveyor is at a proper Station, the Assistant must set up the black Signal.

1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede III. v. xlvii. 183 He has something in his hand—he is holding it up as if it were a signal.

1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 105 Let these signals..be so placed that the same horizontal plane will pass through each of them.

1912 Chatterbox No. 49 402/2 John erected a signal on the little promontory. This signal consisted of a pole, from which fluttered a flag.

2000 P. Pullman Amber Spyglass (2001) iii. 43 The witch had planted it [sc. a flower] as a signal in a cranny of the rock.

6. An alteration of an electric current, electromagnetic wave, or the like by means of which information is conveyed from one place to another; such a current or wave; (also) a current or wave of natural origin that is regarded as conveying information about its source. Also: = signal strength n. at Compounds 3.The earliest electric telegraphs worked by using an electric current to alter the position of a needle, or to indicate one of a set of letters, at the receiving end. The signal consisted in what the current brought about at the receiving end (the message), rather than in the form or nature of the current as in later use (cf. modulation n. 7a).electric, luminance, picture, programme, radio, television, test, video signal, etc.: see the first element.

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society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal

signal1838

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun]

signal1838

1838 Mechanics' Mag. 20 Jan. 261/1 Professor Gauss..proposed to give different signals, by deflecting a single magnetic needle at the distant extremity at different angles.

1842 Mag. Sci. 5 Feb. 354 A system of telegraphs, commanding only from two to eight signals each, and worked by lads, or porters... The signals are given by pointers, each suspended vertically.

1857 U.S. Patent 17,673 1/2 Each letter, word, or syllable of a message is represented by a distinct signal. These signals are transmitted in succession along the main conductor.

1873 Trans. Inst. Engineers & Shipbuilders Scotl. 16 119 If several thousand Leyden Jars were distributed along an aerial line of telegraph..the signals through the line would exhibit exactly the same inductive retardation.

1923 Radio Times 28 Sept. 2/2 After sunset signals may increase very considerably.

1938 Science 1 July (Suppl.) 11/2 Controlled by a master clock at the radio station, signals are sent out at the selected interval.

1951 J. D. MacDonald Wine of Dreamers i. 7 It is almost a month since the last weak signals were received, and all expedition personnel must be assumed dead.

1995 N.Y. Times 24 Jan. c12/2 Some neutron stars, spinning rapidly, emit pulsating radio signals.

2003 ‘S. Pax’ Weblog Diary 26 Mar. in Baghdad Blog 136 We don't get Iraqi TV, but other areas do. Maybe they are transmitting a weak signal or something.

a. A device, typically a coloured light or a semaphore on an upright post, adjacent to a railway line, which is used to give instructions or warnings to train drivers, esp. in relation to the state of the line ahead.

ΚΠ

1838 Mechanic's Mag. Sept. 416/1 The signal is the invention of Dr. Church,..and there is no doubt it will soon be adopted by the railway companies generally.

1877 Times 23 Nov. 4/5 A train must be in absolute safety, so far as collisions are concerned, so long as the outdoor signals are visible, and so long, also, as the driver acts according to their implied directions.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 76/2 At points the track circuit is run through a circuit breaker, so that the ‘opening’ of the points sets the signal for the section.

1971 Mod. Railways May 201/1 In 1834, the first fixed signal was erected.

2010 Kentish Gaz. (Nexis) 30 Dec. In addition to platforms being extended and track and signal upgrades at the station, the subway has undergone several improvements.

b. Any of various devices (now esp. a set of coloured lights) situated on or adjacent to a road, junction, etc., and used to control or direct the movement of traffic. Cf. traffic light n. 2.

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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > traffic control > traffic lights

traffic signal1893

traffic light1913

signal1915

light1925

robot1929

1915 Munic. Jrnl. 7 Jan. 12/2 Each signal has a ten-inch red lens to indicate ‘stop’ or a green lens to indicate ‘start’.

1933 Traffic Signs (Size, Col. & Type) Prov. Regs. §27 Three lights shall be used facing the stream of traffic which the signal is intended to control, one red, one amber and one green.

1960 J. H. Jones in E. Davies Roads ii. 26 Linking is the interconnection of two or more traffic signals in such a manner that the beginning of the green period at one signal is related to that of the previous signal.

2004 Geelong (Victoria) News (Nexis) 11 Aug. 1 With signals down at major intersections, drivers were forced to edge cautiously into busy junctions.

c. North American. = indicator n. 3g. Cf. turn signal n. at turn- comb. form .

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > direction indicator

indicator1932

trafficator1933

direction indicator1937

signal1939

turn signal1949

winker1951

flasher1958

indicator lamp1961

indicator light1961

1939 Pop. Mech. Apr. 572/2 To operate the signal, the driver flips the toggle switch to right or left, depending on the direction he plans to turn.

1964 Changing Times Nov. 39/2 For any maneuver other than a sharp turn, it is necessary to turn the signal off manually.

1992 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 23 Dec. b1 A woman in a lightly battered Maxima had been waiting, signal blinking, for a break in traffic to claim the spot.

2010 D. Ben-Ari Car Ownership for Women ii. 24 Remember to turn your signal off if it fails to go off automatically.

Phrases

to call (the) signals: (a) American Football (of a player, typically a quarterback) to signal the next play or formation to other team members (cf. sense 4c); (b) North American colloquial to decide how something should be done; to give directions to others (cf. to call the shots at shot n.¹ 7i).

ΚΠ

1894 Overland Monthly Jan. 20 He could hear..the indifferent voice of the referee droning out, ‘second down’..or again could hear the sharp, quick tones of the captains, calling the signals.

1905 St. Nicholas Nov. 68/1 Boomly stood back of the little quarterback, fearing to detect some sign of nervousness in the voice that should call the signals.

1952 Changing Times Apr. 11/2 Calling the signals takes patience, skill and practice. You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Don't rush it.

1978 S. Brill Teamsters ii. 61 He was the man at the top who was calling the signals.

1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Oct. 76/2 Philadelphia could have beaten the Bucs with an experienced warm body calling signals.

2010 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 3 Oct. g1 Calling signals from the sidelines would be the governor and key legislators.

Compounds

C1. attributive.

a. Denoting something employed as, or used in giving, a signal or signals.See also signal arm n., signal light n., signal strip n., signal word n. at Compounds 3.

signal apparatus n.

ΚΠ

1840 Times 26 Nov. 3/1 The pneumatic signal apparatus to be applied to the tunnels.

1937 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 41 295 Sites..for threshold lighting and other signal apparatus required to assist the pilot.

2001 Evening Standard (Nexis) 28 Mar. 4 All Metropolitan line services were halted between Baker Street and Aldgate yesterday while signal apparatus was examined.

signal beacon n.

ΚΠ

1667 Earl of Orrery Let. 14 July in Coll. State Lett. (1742) 269 These ships came from the seaward,..which made the signal Beacon be fired.

1781 St. James's Chron. 28–31 July Signal Beacons..fixed at all the distinguishing Places on the Sea Coast.

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxvi. 345 A large signal-beacon or cairn.

2003 Daily Tel. 28 May 3/3 The battery on his satellite telephone went dead, leaving him with only a signal beacon as a means of contact with his team.

signal bell n.

ΚΠ

1808 National Intelligencer & Washington Advertiser 30 Sept. The signal-bell..is tolling with such frequency that the very boys and negroes in the streets halloo.

1908 C. W. Wallace Children of Chapel 11 The modern signal bell of the German theatre.

2005 R. S. Wheeler Fire in Hole 85 He pulled the signal bell, unsure how many tugs it took to get the hoist operator to respond.

signal book n.

ΚΠ

1744 T. Mathews Narr. Proc. His Majesty's Fleet 74 Our Signal Book at present, has been found..to be defective and insufficient.

1865 A. Smith Summer in Skye I. 266 The sailor in possession of the signal-book reads the signal.

2003 Internat. Security 27 208 Evidence was found that they had..stolen a British signal book.

signal cannon n.

ΚΠ

1760 Crit. Rev. July 2 About 25,000 able..men, who were obliged, at firing the signal cannon, to appear in their martial accoutrements.

1831 N.-Y. Spectator 19 Aug. Far more terrific and appalling is the sound of a signal cannon.

1934 Music & Lett. 15 115 After an introductory slow march, bugle and trumpet calls and signal cannon, the fun begins.

2009 New Haven (Connecticut) Reg. (Nexis) 2 July Care manufactures between 250 and 300 signal cannons a year, mainly for yacht clubs, vfw posts, Scouting groups and collectors.

signal code n.

ΚΠ

1822 Morning Post 21 Sept. The practice of the new Signal Code seemed to occupy the time of the several members with the minutest attention.

1877 J. Habberton Jericho Road 94 Between the societies of neighboring counties there often existed signal-codes, and unwritten extradition and reciprocity treaties.

2003 B. Solomon Railroad Signaling 140 If train control equipment fails..the most restrictive signal code..is received.

signal fire n.

ΚΠ

1743 J. Davidson tr. Virgil Æneid ii. 91 in Wks. Virgil I. The royal Galley from her Stern had set up the signal Fire.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 290 The signal fires were blazing fifty miles off.

1906 ‘M. Twain’ Horse's Tale (1907) i. 4 I know some of the Indian signs—the signs they make with their hands, and by signal-fires at night and columns of smoke by day.

2010 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 16 May a1 He gathered cactus pads for sustenance and wood to make a signal fire.

signal flag n.

ΚΠ

1725 J. Hammond Pract. Surveyor x. 100 Let..a Boat be manned out with a Signal Flag.

1885 Cent. Mag. May 84/2 The signal-flag was planted on the eastern end of the ridge.

1953 Mariner's Mirror 39 76 There has seldom been much secrecy as to the composition of the signal flags actually employed.

2003 Oxf. Amer. May 62/1 The woman writing about heritage tourism waves her Southern Sunset cocktail above her head like a signal flag.

signal flame n.

ΚΠ

1753 A. Strahan tr. Virgil First Six Bks. Æneid ii. 62 The Royal Ship had rais'd the Signal Flame.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xxx. 169 Might not my father's beadsman hoar..Kindle a signal-flame?

1910 J. B. Connolly Open Water 257 He..saw the blue signal flame burning near the rail of the ship.

2005 E. E. Knight Dragon Champion 368 A mountaintop signal-flame on their Isle of Ice.

signal flare n.

ΚΠ

1879 Naut. Mag. July 606 Large merchant ships have no difficulty as a rule in making signals of distress; the flames are made by means of Holmes's Signal Flare, a composition which burns in water.

1967 E. Hamilton Weapon from Beyond 99 He looked at Chane..and considered what would happen if he dropped him out of a hatchway, suited and attached to a signal flare.

2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xii. 185 Women notably have invented the signal flare, the spacesuit, the bulletproof vest and the windshield wiper.

signal gun n.

ΚΠ

1685 W. Avery Let. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) VI. 151 A green Round maple stick being in their Pitt or hearth and being encouraged with heat will somtims give a crak like a sinal gun.

1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. 273 The Signal Gun had been fired over and over.

1843 C. J. Lever Jack Hinton vi. 37 When the signal-gun announced the commencement of the action.

1998 S. Sontag et al. Blind Man's Bluff ii. 34 He called for the ‘noisemakers’, devices that could be shot out the signal gun in the stern room.

signal horn n.

ΚΠ

1789 R. Mason Particular Descr. Kelso 34 The signal horn now kindles rage no more.

1828 Times 12 Nov. 2/6 The hunter's signal horn is sounding.

1955 Wisconsin Mag. Hist. 39 62/1 A bellows-operated signal horn used on river boats seventy-five years ago.

2010 Northern Territory News (Darwin) (Nexis) 20 Nov. 7 Carrying signal horns is a maritime safety requirement.

signal lamp n.

ΚΠ

1814 Caledonian Mercury 13 June Mr King, a tin-plate worker, was applied to..on the subject of manufacturing a new description of signal lamp.

1902 Chambers's Jrnl. July 479/2 The apparatus is simply a new glass for the signal-lamp, facing along the same way and throwing a powerful beam of light over the whole length of the arm.

1992 S. Hall BR Signalling Handbk. 49/2 A small aperture is cut in the back of the signal lamp.

signal lantern n.

ΚΠ

1779 R. Coram et al. Affidavit 30 Oct. in B. B. Oberg Papers of Benjamin Franklin (1993) XXX. 628 Three Large Signal Lanthorns With proper Signal Wax Candles in them..had..been hung over the bow quarter and Wraist of the B. H. R. in a horisontal Line, which was the Signal of reconnaissance.

1882 Cent. Mag. Mar. 756/1 The station-master stopped with a cluster of..signal-lanterns in his hand and cast their light over the sorrel.

1933 Times 5 Dec. 47/7 These are the signal lanterns, green, amber, and red, and the rubber strip let into the surface of the road and acting as a vehicle detector.

2009 R. L. Cave Peace Keepers vii. 113 The trick was to keep himself and his signal lantern from being spotted by the rustlers.

signal mark n.

ΚΠ

1813 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 18 Sept. Decatur put on a sailor's roundabout and hat, so as not to be a signal mark for the enemy's sharp-shooters.

1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma viii. 259 These three texts..may well stand as the great signal-marks to it.

1963 Times 8 May 10/1 (heading) Signal mark on lamp-post.

signal mirror n.

ΚΠ

1949 Sci. News-Let. 17 Sept. 179/3 Equipment contained in the packaged unit includes a tent-like canopy,..flashlight, signal mirror, [etc.].

2009 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Aug. 116/1 The mirror was always in the drawer, the little handheld signal mirror, to use if one is lost.

signal note n.

ΚΠ

1828 Louisiana Advertiser 12 Jan. Each patriot eagerly awaits the signal note of battle.

1922 Gen. Electric Rev. Oct. 603/2 With continuous-wave telegraphy, the signal note can be adjusted to the pitch or tone most suitable for reading through static.

1994 H. Hollick Kingmaking xlix. 590 Each man listened to the signal notes of the curled bronze trumpets.

signal pistol n.

ΚΠ

1823 J. Hogg Three Perils of Woman I. i. 235 As he pronounced the last word, the signal pistol was fired.

1928 Times 16 Aug. 10/2 A signal pistol went off, and in a few seconds the roar of the three engines being run up came through the darkness.

2009 Airports (Nexis) 3 Feb. 2 Bird controllers and inspectors carry out routine patrols and sharpshooters fire signal pistols and set off numerous kinds of firecrackers.

signal rocket n.

ΚΠ

1765 R. Jones New Treat. Artific. Fireworks iv. 135 Signal-rockets..are headed with stars, serpents, &c.

1887 Spectator 30 July 1019/2 A signal-rocket sent up from the flag-ship.

1997 D. Hansen Sole Survivor xli. 405 The emergency cabinet..housed the ship's distress flares, signal rockets and the rifle used when large sharks became entangled in their net.

signal shell n.

ΚΠ

1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) A continual discharge of these signal shells.

1900 Times 20 Aug. 7/7 The foreman of a timber-yard..found on Saturday morning a signal shell, or rocket, in a stack that was being shifted.

2001 D. Detzer Allegiance xvi. 272 There it was, the signal shell rising from Fort Johnson.

signal shot n.

ΚΠ

1819 Times 19 July 3/6 A sort of signal shot was fired upon Cork Hill.

1908 Outing Aug. 616/1 It was with a sort of triumphant flourish that I fired the two signal shots.

2004 Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampsh.) (Nexis) 12 Dec. b1 Standing there like Elmer Fudd and firing off three signal shots at calm, rational intervals.

signal smoke n.

ΚΠ

1823 New Times 26 Sept. 2/5 Election of a Pope... There was no smoke; the fumist, no doubt, not having as usual taken the precaution to open the funnel of the pan, so that the signal smoke was consumed within.

1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xviii. 179 The smoke-colored twilight emerged in slow puffs like signal smoke from a blanket.

2003 D. M. Fox Patton's Vanguard xviii. 386 Despite Leach's men..setting off red signal smoke, the planes from the xix tac made two bombing and strafing runs against the Shermans.

signal torch n.

ΚΠ

1707 E. Fenton Ode to Sun 10 On high her Signal Torch displays.

1854 M. R. Mitford Atherton 397 Donna Leonora..resolved to obey implicitly Don Fernando's directions, to wait in the balcony until she perceived the signal-torch.

1938 Times 24 Feb. 11/4 Other equipment includes 28 signal torches with 350 electric bulbs, 202 steel helmets, 680 haversacks, [etc.].

2002 Gold Coast Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 18 Sept. Mr Wong said a 3000-tonne cargo ship also spotted their SOS with a signal torch but left after shining searchlights at the raft.

signal whistle n.

ΚΠ

1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake v. 206 Fancy..in the plover's shrilly strain, The signal whistle heard again.

1895 Mod. Steam Engine 51 The signal whistle is shown at g.

2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 Sept. 46/2 And then there's..the comparison of various signal-whistles.

b. Denoting a place or thing from which signals are given or worked, esp. on a railway or for naval or military purposes.See also signal box n., signal station n. at Compounds 3, signal post n.¹, signal post n.²

signal bridge n.

ΚΠ

1854 Reynolds's Newspaper 27 Aug. 12/3 Witness could not tell exactly how far they were from the signal-bridge when the switchman ran out.

1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 75 As I write comes a messenger from the signal-bridge..with a copy of signal just made from the flagship.

2003 J. Kelly Trackside Scenes you can Model 67 The signal bridge just around the bend is for downhill trains.

signal cabin n.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > signal-box

signal box1822

signal cabin1861

switch-tower1897

tower1900

1861 Daily News 4 Oct. 3/1 He was afterwards taken into the signal cabin by Mr. Hodges and searched.

1889 G. Findlay Working & Managem. Eng. Railway 69 The signal cabin contains a most complicated piece of mechanism, called the ‘locking frame’.

2007 A. McDermott Hunt for Atlantis vi. 101 He saw the fleeing driver running towards a signal cabin near the end of the sidings.

signal gantry n.

ΚΠ

1903 Railway Engineer 24 372 The 4.30 p.m. train had come nearly to a stand, and was about two engines' length from the signal gantry.

2003 R. B. Duffey & J. W. Saull Know the Risk 196 The position of the signal gantry..has potential for leading drivers to reach erroneous conclusions.

signal house n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > place from which signals given

signal house1796

1796 Gentleman's Mag. 66 i. 369 In the first distance is seen the signal-house, with Bogner..beyond.

1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 160 Most of the signal-house keepers and dredge men along the canal seem French.

2005 P. A. Aho Lighthouse Designs 41 The octagonal light tower was built atop the signal house.

signal mast n.

ΚΠ

1799 tr. J. P. Ramel Narr. Deportation to Cayenne 105 About an hundred paces from the sea-side, leaving the redoubt and the signal mast to the right, we came in front of Mr. Kormann's house.

1861 Times 14 Nov. 5/2 A cone, point up, was hoisted from the signal-mast at the high lighthouse overlooking Shields harbour.

1936 Boys' Life Oct. 29/1 A flag pole and signal mast were set up.

2010 Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) (Nexis) 15 Dec. At the less heavily traveled East Parker crossing in North Scranton, larger flashing lights will be installed, along with the new signal masts.

signal pole n.

ΚΠ

1768 J. Cremer Jrnl. 19 July in R. R. Bellamy Ramblin' Jack (1936) 179 I was to order Sallutes, and mind his orders..and when the boate was to come on shoar by a pennant or a Signall Pole.

1864 Times 29 Mar. 8/1 A sentry stands there, also a sentry-box;..also a signal pole.

1932 Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. 11 306 While setting up a signal pole at Ross Mountain he was severely injured.

2010 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 6 Dec. 1 a Not only was the light out, but the signal pole was warped and faced away from the track.

signal ship n.

ΚΠ

1720 H. Walker Jrnl. or Acct. Exped. Canada 66 To hazard the loss of the Fleet, and being also a Signal-Ship, was judged by the Court Martial, to have been..a Breach of Discipline and Order.

1864 Times 12 July 11/5 The Pigmy paddle steamer..sailed from Portsmouth yesterday morning to resume her station south of the Isle of Wight as an experimental signal ship, in conjunction with a signal party on St. Catherine's Down.

1949 Southwestern Hist. Q. 52 400 Because of the absence of the signal ship,..the fleet passed by the bar during the night.

2010 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 9 Nov. 36 He served on HMS Meynell,..before moving to HMS Bleasdale, which acted as signal ship at the Dieppe Raid.

signal staff n.

ΚΠ

1782 J. Yeo Omar & Zemira I. iii. 188 I hung the remains of my turban upon a towering pole, which we had erected as a signal staff.

1898 G. Parker Battle of Strong xxxv Not far from her was the signal-staff which telegraphed to another signal-staff inland. Upon the staff now was hoisted a red flag.

1992 J. Buffett Where is Joe Merchant? 23 I dropped below Morro Castle, with its aged towers, modern signal staffs, and black cannons.

signal tower n.

ΚΠ

1757 J. Byng Genuine Tryal Admiral Byng 126 The Signal for the Attack was given by a Cannon Shot and four Bombs fired from the Signal Tower.

1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 155/2 In like manner, the new signal-tower was weighted with sand.

1996 F. McCourt Angela's Ashes (1997) xii. 311 He leads us to the end of the platform where we have to climb a ladder to the signal tower.

c. Chiefly Military. Designating a person connected with signalling.See also signal corps n. at Compounds 3, signalman n., signalwoman n.

signal boy n.

ΚΠ

1853 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 31 May This mob was aided in its operations by telegraphic intelligence, communicated by signal boys, stationed at regular intervals.

1888 Daily News 18 Dec. 6/4 The dead body of..the signal boy at Spa-road Station..was found..on the line.

2006 Brentwood Gaz. (Nexis) 21 June 11 A Royal Navy signal boy on HMS Hood, he was killed in action in the Denmark Strait.

signal engineer n.

ΚΠ

1875 Electr. News 1 July 35/2 Austin Chambers, signal engineer.

1951 Pop. Sci. Sept. 135/1 A New York subway motorman, told Bruce Coughlin, who is a signal engineer,..that there ought to be a ‘wigwag’..before a tunnel entrance near the Delaware Water Gap.

2010 Harlow, Epping & Sawbridgeworth Star (Nexis) 21 Oct. Hawks..is re-training to become a signal engineer with London Underground.

signal guard n.

ΚΠ

1813 Zeemans Woordenboek 166/2 Wachter. (Sein) Guetteur. Signal guard.

1851 Hand-bk. for Travellers in Devon & Cornwall 145/1 During the war a signal guard was stationed at the summit of this hill, on the look-out for invaders, and ready to arouse the country by a bonfire.

1914 Indianapolis Star 21 Apr. 15/4 A marine and signal guard had to be called upon to act as doorkeeper and hold back the more importunate.

2003 L. K. Wilson Heartless Hero xvi. 105 The prince yelled at the signal guard. This time the guard came running down the steps of the signal tower.

signal lieutenant n.

ΚΠ

1796 Minutes Court-martial A. J. P. Molloy p. xv John Blake, Signal Lieutenant.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Signal lieutenant, an officer in the Royal Navy having the charge of signals on board a flag-ship.

1994 P. O'Brian Commodore (1996) i. 14 I should not be in that signal-lieutenant's shoes for instant promotion to flag-rank.

signal midshipman n.

ΚΠ

1779 Minutes Proc. Court-martial Admiral Keppel 70 I..endeavour to find the succeeding Midshipman that was appointed as Signal Midshipman.

1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. xvi. 207 I made my appearance on deck, and was ordered by the first lieutenant to do my duty under the signal midshipman.

1996 P. O'Brian Yellow Admiral vi. 143 The signal midshipman, an oldster named Callow who had sailed with Jack before.

signal officer n. (signals officer)

ΚΠ

1788 Ess. Signals 26 These..are frequently to be inspected by the Signal officer.

1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. iii. 86 The signal officers..had to make out the number of the flag.

1885 E. Vivant Dictionnaire Technique Anglais-Francais (at cited word) Signals officer, officer chargé des signaux.

1918 R. Aldington Let. 20 Oct. in R. Aldington & H. D. Lives in Lett. (2003) 129 I have been made signal officer for the time being, the other signal officer having been wounded in the last ‘show’.

1937 D. Jones In Parenthesis v. 126 The Signals Officer passed through to the partitioned-off space behind the curtain of grey blanket.

1985 Times 6 Sept. 14/6 Brigadier P. D. Alexander to be Signal Officer in Chief.

2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon xi. 173 He'd begun as a signals officer, seconded briefly to Spetsnaz in Afghanistan.

C2. Objective.

signal fitter n.

ΚΠ

1862 Birmingham Daily Post 8 Sept. 3/5 William Clark, signal fitter to the London and North-Western Railway Company, said he put a new wire on the distance signal on the 7th of August.

1898 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 5/3 Two signal fitters were standing in the four-foot way.

1998 Grimsby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 13 June 3 He was to take some 18 different jobs before settling as a signal-fitter on the railways.

signal giver n.

ΚΠ

1684 J. Phillips tr. Plutarch Conc. Musick in M. Morgan et al. tr. Plutarch Morals I. i. 170 The Signal-giver..sounded the Signal of Battle.

1853 National Mag. Sept. 288/2 The signal-giver at Greenwich had the means of observing the passage of a star across the field of the transit telescope and of giving signal at the same time.

1968 Dædalus 97 1204 Daley's performance has been that of a ‘signal giver’ rather than ‘orchestrator’.

2009 C. Johnson Animals make us Human 101 To be a good trainer you have to be a good signal giver.

signal keeper n.

ΚΠ

1791 tr. R. de Paradés Secret Mem. 24 Having gone to the signal keeper as a deserter of a ship, and begged him to conceal him in his house.

1852 Times 30 July 8/4 George Maughan, pointsman and signal-keeper on the Clarence and Leeds Northern lines.

1922 G. Bronson-Howard Devil's Chaplain v. xvii. 281 There used to be a signal-keeper on Mount St. Kilda's once.

2007 W. Weaver tr. C. E. Gadda That Awful Mess on Via Merulana viii. 298 She's the niece of the signal-keeper.

signal processing adj. and n.

ΚΠ

1959 Chicago Tribune 28 Sept. iv. 17/1 (advt.) On the ground a standard army expansible van containing the signal processing equipment.

1960 Q. Rev. Biol. 35 245 The papers are divided into ten groups: Cellular biology;..Sensory Receptors and Signal Processing; [etc.].

1998 K. C. Cole Universe & Teacup ii. viii. 94 One of the leaders in this approach to signal processing..calls wavelets ‘mathematical microscopes’.

2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xxiv. 265 Technology based on elastic surface waves has led to the development of compact and inexpensive signal-processing components.

C3.

signal anchor n. Molecular Biology a signal peptide occurring in the middle of a peptide molecule.

ΚΠ

1985 Cell 40 630/1 The hydrophobic domain acts as an extended signal-anchor.

2007 T. A. Rhomberg et al. in P. R. Jungblut & M. Hecker Proteomics Microbial Pathogens xi. 208 SignalP has been shown to be the most successful program in correctly assigning signal peptides, signal anchors, and nonsecretory proteins.

signal anxiety n. Psychoanalysis anxiety which alerts the ego to danger and stimulates defence mechanisms.This theory was put forward in 1926 by Sigmund Freud in his Hemmung, Symptom und Angst. [Compare German Angstsignal anxiety signal (1926 in Freud).]

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > theories of Freud > [noun] > self-conscious mind > danger sign

signal anxiety1929

1929 Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-anal. 10 396 Thus a secondary hate may be developed as a means of coping with either fear or guilt, a secondary fear attitude (‘signal’ anxiety) as a means of coping with guilty hate.

1968 C. Rycroft Crit. Dict. Psychoanal. 154 Signal anxiety..in Freud's formulation is the response of the ego to internal danger and the stimulus to the formation and use of defence-mechanisms.

1991 E. Rayner Independent Mind in Brit. Psychoanal. ii. 28 Signal anxiety..consists of the release of a smaller quantity of affect which activates appropriate adaptive ego functions.

signal arm n. a pivoted projection on a semaphore, which may be raised and lowered for the purpose of signalling on a railway or at a level crossing.

ΚΠ

1851 Morning Post 31 May 5/2 Robson is not to approach me until the signal arm is lowered.

1901 Railway Mag. May 463/2 A neighbouring signal-arm falls.

1994 San Jose (Calif.) Mercury (Nexis) 12 Nov. 1 b The warning lights were flashing at the crossing but the signal arms were found still in an upright position.

signal averager n. Electronics a device which performs signal averaging.

ΚΠ

1964 Science 22 May 925/1 (advt.) None of the ‘signal averaging’ devices now available really average signals... What these non-averaging ‘signal averagers’ really do is add the recurrent waveforms.

2006 A. Fried & D. Richter in D. E. Heard Analyt. Techniques Atmospheric Measurem. ii. 113 The detector signal thus acquired is co-averaged in a computer or signal averager.

signal averaging n. Electronics a procedure in which repeated measurements of a signal are summed or averaged in order to cancel out random background noise, typically used for increasing signal-to-noise ratios.

ΚΠ

1944 U.S. Patent 2,352,958 2/1 A filter which will give a continuous D.C., the output of which is then passed into a signal averaging network.

1968 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 308 97 A photometric technique..which similarly employs 1000 giant laser pulses and signal-averaging to obtain a s/n ratio of 4.

2009 A. M. Weiner Ultrafast Optics iii. 108 The delay range can be scanned many times to allow signal averaging for improved sensitivity.

signal box n. a place from which signals are made and received, spec. a building beside a railway track from which signals, points, and other equipment are controlled.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > signal-box

signal box1822

signal cabin1861

switch-tower1897

tower1900

1822 Proc. Gen. Court Martial Commodore James Barron 77 He then stood on the signal box and hailed the Leopard, (who was then firing on us) saying ‘he would send his boat on board’.

1850 in Rep. Commissioners Railways XXX. (1851) App. No. 65. 104 The train..came into collision at the crossing opposite to signal-box No. 4, with an engine belonging to the South Eastern Railway Company.

1884 Encycl. Brit. XX. 238/2 Distant signals..worked by wire communication from the signal box, were, it is believed, first introduced..in 1846.

1923 W. G. Chapman 10.30 Limited x. 79 The home signal is the second signal reached and is usually near a signal box.

2008 Irish Times (Nexis) 29 Mar. (Mag.) 6 The old engine sheds, the water towers and the signal boxes are all fast disappearing now.

signal caller n. American Football a player, typically a quarterback, who signals the next play or formation to other team members.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > types of player

side tackle1809

nose guard1852

rusher1877

goalkicker1879

quarterback1879

runner1880

quarter1883

full back1884

left guard1884

snap-back1887

snapper-back1887

running back1891

tackle1891

defensive end1897

guard1897

interferer1897

receiver1897

defensive back1898

defensive tackle1900

safety man1901

ball carrier1902

defensive lineman1902

homebrew1903

offensive lineman1905

lineman1907

returner1911

signal caller1915

rover1916

interference1920

punt returner1926

pass rusher1928

tailback1930

safety1931

blocker1935

faker1938

scatback1946

linesman1947

flanker1953

platoon player1953

corner-back1955

pulling guard1955

split end1955

return man1957

slot-back1959

strong safety1959

wide receiver1960

line-backer1961

pocket passer1963

tight end1963

run blocker1967

wideout1967

blitzer1968

1915 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 23 Sept. 10/5 One of the best signal callers produced in the state for many years.

1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. c 9/1 John Banaszak jarred the ball loose from Bills signal caller David Mays.

2005 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Oct. 272/2 Western Pennsylvania..produced an inordinate number of great signal callers.

signal corps n. a military unit in charge of signal communications and information, esp. (with capital initials) the branch of the United States Army established in 1860 for this purpose.

ΚΠ

1861 Lowell (Mass.) Daily Citizen 7 Oct. General McClellan has detailed some six hundred lieutenants from the army for a signal corps.

1895 Outing 26 396/1 The Signal Corps is a body of highly trained soldiers whose duty it is to provide the methods of communication between the different forces of an army.

2005 Aiken (S. Carolina) Standard 12 May 1/1 (caption) A huge satellite dish used by the Signal Corps at Fort Gordon as part of a communications network.

signal crayfish n. [after Swedish signalkräfta (1965 or earlier)] a freshwater crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus (family Astacidae), with a bright patch on the underside of each claw, native to the western United States and introduced in Europe and Japan, where it now threatens native wildlife.

ΚΠ

1982 Ambio 11 362/3 Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from the United States have been introduced to Swedish waters and have partially compensated for the native populations lost to the plague.

2010 Westmorland Gaz. (Nexis) 13 Apr. Native crayfish have come under threat from signal crayfish, who out compete them for food and habitat and spread crayfish plague.

signal detection n. the detection of signals; (Psychology) the discerning or recognition of a stimulus by an observer in the context of distractions or uncertainty.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of cognition > [noun] > detection of signals

signal detection1922

1922 J. H. Morecroft in E. Hausmann et al. Radio Phone Receiving iv. 102 When using a grid condenser, a signal always produces a decrease in the average value of the plate current... The certainty of signal detection is greater than if no condenser is used.

1954 Psychol. Rev. 61 409/2 The mathematical model of signal detection is applicable to problems of visual detection.

1981 B. Picinbono in L. Bjørnø Underwater Acoustics & Signal Processing iii. 356 The simplest problem of signal detection is the detection of a deterministic and localized signal in a noise with known statistical properties.

2006 S. J. Guastello Human Factors Engin. & Ergonomics iii. 29 Signal detection theory was developed to address artifacts in the classical psychophysics experiments.

signal generator n. Electronics an instrument or apparatus that generates electrical signals; spec. one for generating modulated or unmodulated electrical waveforms of known amplitude and frequency for use in adjusting and testing electronic equipment.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > [noun] > device generating signal

signal generator1894

staircase generator1956

1881 U.S. Patent 240,853 2/2 In telephone toll systems, the combination..of an electrical-signal generator, a locked calling-switch, and an unlocked switch.]

1894 U.S. Patent 512,399 2/1 The subscriber..who initiated the connection, by rotating his signal generator a² transmits a signaling current over the line b to the central office.

1929 K. Henney Princ. Radio xv. 376 The circuit diagram is that of the General Radio Signal Generator, a device which consists of a radio-frequency oscillator, a means of measuring and controlling its output, and a means of using any desired part of this output.

2002 Sound & Vision May 85/1 Using a test DVD or a signal generator, he will bring up a ‘window’ pattern—a gray rectangle in the center of the screen on a black background.

signal intelligence n. = signals intelligence n.; cf. SIGINT n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > electronic espionage > [noun]

signal intelligence1958

Watergating1972

1958 Guardian 22 May 3/1 Thompson and Miller trained for ‘a specialised and secret duty in Signal Intelligence’, Mr Jones continued.

1972 New Scientist 2 Mar. 466/1 The generic term for the business today is Signal Intelligence (Sigint).

2004 O. Tunander Secret War against Sweden i. 11 Swedish Defence Staff presented..statements about signal intelligence and tape-recorded propeller sounds.

signal light n. a light used for signalling, as on board a ship, on a railway, fitted to motor vehicles, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > parts and equipment of vehicles generally > [noun] > lights and reflectors

signal light1743

tail-light1844

headlight1845

headlamp1851

tail-lamp1891

reflector1909

spotlight1916

fogs1974

1743 London Mag. June 188 Each respective Transport was to shew a Signal Light at Midnight.

1804 Ld. Nelson Let. 23 Feb. in Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. Add. p. ccxix It is recommended..to be careful that the Signal-lights for knowing each other are clear.

1936 Discovery Sept. 289/2 Motor-car headlights, signal lights and searchlights.

1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July 8- a/6 The Utah Highway Patrol requested drivers to stay off the roads as signal lights were off through much of the state.

2004 A. Furst Dark Voy. (2005) 60 The planning said three hours, then they would return to the shore and show a signal light.

signal line n. any of various types of cable, wire, etc., by which a signal is sent; (Diving) = lifeline n. 2b.

ΚΠ

1832 Waldie's Select Circulating Libr. 4 Apr. 14 Heans at first had his foot entangled in the signal-line, but quickly released it; and notwithstanding this detention,..he rose very rapidly, and was first to reach the surface.

1853 Mechanics' Mag. 26 Mar. 245/2 The signal-line..be carried along the carriages,..and to be attached to the lever of the bell.

1908 B. Cunningham Treat. on Princ. & Pract. Harbour Engin. iii. 58 The minimum number of attendants required for a single diver is three—one for the signal line and air-pipe, and two to work the pump.

1967 T. Lewis & L. R. Taylor Introd. Exper. Ecol. iv. 134 Orb-spinners..make a characteristic web in which there is a radius devoid of spiral threads, with a signal line in the middle of this region leading from the centre of the web to the spider's retreat.

1986 W. L. Schweber Integrated Circuits for Computers ii. 25 Any electronic system has some small unwanted signals called electrical noise added to the signal lines.

2005 Halifax (Nova Scotia) Daily News (Nexis) 5 Sept. 4 A Dutch dive supervisor who can tell what his charges are doing 50 metres below by their gentle tugs on a signal line.

signal molecule n. any extracellular or intracellular molecule (e.g. a hormone, neurotransmitter, second messenger, etc.), released in response to a stimulus that promotes a particular reaction in a cell, or behaviour in an organism; esp. such a molecule involved in cell-to-cell communication.

ΚΠ

1966 Jrnl. Insect Physiol. 12 427 An electron-rich group (oxygen) appears to be an essential part of the signal molecule [of an alarm pheremone].

1986 Guardian (Nexis) 25 Apr. As the hormone [sc. abscisic acid] acts as a signal molecule in plants,..it seems reasonable to expect that it also acts as a signal molecule in the brain.

2006 J. A. Feldman From Molecule to Metaphor ii. 19 The emission and subsequent recognition of a signal molecule is the simplest form of communication among living things.

signal/noise ratio n. = signal-to-noise ratio n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > noise or interference > signal-to-noise ratio

signal/noise ratio1923

signal-to-noise ratio1923

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > unwanted part of signal > signal or noise ratio

signal/noise ratio1923

signal-to-noise ratio1923

1923 Sci. Abstr. B. 26 556 Methods have been developed for measuring the strength of received signals and also the signal noise ratio.

1989 P. Horowitz & W. Hill Art of Electronics (ed. 2) xi. 774/2 A signal averager..is an instrument used to improve the signal quality (signal/noise ratio) of a periodic analog input signal that is unavoidably combined with nonperiodic noise.

2010 D. Stephens & S. Kramer Living with Hearing Diffic. xi. 173 The principle of both approaches is to make the signal louder and improve the signal/noise ratio, particularly in noisy places.

signal pad n. a pad of paper on which messages are written down before being sent as signals, or on which signals received are recorded.

ΚΠ

1906 Times 17 Aug. 6/3 He took some bearings..on a signal pad.

1975 T. Allbeury Palomino Blonde x. 63 The Morse came and he was getting it down on his signal pad.

2009 W. Smith Assegai 316 He remembered the signal pad in the locker beside him.

signal peptide n. Molecular Biology a short discrete amino acid sequence which occurs (usually at the amino terminus) in many newly synthesized proteins and acts to direct their movement to specific locations within the cell, typically being cleaved from the mature protein.

ΚΠ

1975 Jrnl. Cell Biol. 67 848 (caption) Endoproteolytic removal of the signal sequence before chain completion is indicated by the presence of signal peptides..within the intracisternal space.

2004 Protein Sci. 13 2819 A number of computational tools are available for detecting signal peptides, but their abilities to locate the signal peptide cleavage sites vary significantly.

signal plate n. (a) a plate (plate n. 8a) that is used to give a signal or that serves as a signal, esp. to road or rail traffic; (b) (in some types of television camera tube) a plate electrode whose capacitance relative to an adjacent photoelectric surface is used to provide the picture signal.

ΚΠ

1846 24th Rep. State Prisons of Ireland 22 in Parl. Papers XX. The cells will afford separate accommodation for 61 additional prisoners. They are..to have water-closets, signal plates, &c.

1920 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 23 Nov. 605/2 A traffic signal including a tower having a pair of oppositely disposed signal plates mounted to move thereabout.

1934 V. K. Zworykin in Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 217 10 Consider the circuit of a single photo~electric element in the mosaic... Here P represents such an element, and C its capacity to a plate common to all the elements, which hereafter will be called the ‘signal plate’.

1975 K. Wicks Television 19 After striking the signal plate, the electron beam returns along the tube, attracted by the positive charge on a series of five electrodes.

2005 S. Hall Mod. Signalling Handbk. (rev. ed.) 51 (caption) Intermediate Block Signal Plate.

signal reaction n. Psychology an immediate, non-rational, conditioned response to a stimulus or a symbol.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > types of semantic change > [noun]

usurpation1644

amelioration1871

pejoration1889

adequation1931

permutation1931

melioration1939

loan-shift1950

signal reaction1976

1915 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 26 348 He was conscious of the longer duration of the activities preceding the signal reaction.

1976 N. Postman Crazy Talk 195 A signal reaction is what happens when words have lost their referential or symbolic aspect and instead assume the character of religious icons.

2007 K. Albrecht Pract. Intelligence xi. 312 It's as if the thalamus, the information gateway to your cortex, gets hijacked by the over-reactive amygdala. That is what we refer to as the signal reaction.

signal red n. and adj. (a) n. a bright red colour, vermilion; (b) adj. of this colour.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > bright red or scarlet

cockea1382

coccyn1382

coctin1382

vermiliona1400

scarlet-redc1405

sinoper1412

scarletc1440

sinople?c1450

vermeletc1530

lusty gallant1587

vermeil1590

vermeil red1590

minium1601

cinnabar?1614

cochineal1632

poppy red1679

poppy colour1705

cherry-colour1720

ponceau1782

Turkey red1789

pinkc1791

coquelicot1795

poppy1796

cherry-red1802

vermilion-red1815

cardinal scarlet1828

geranium1842

dahlia1846

cardinal red1850

cerise1858

cardinal1874

scarlet-crimson1882

vermilion-scarlet1882

pillar box1894

Turkish red1900

signal red1909

fuchsia1923

1909 Times 3 Dec. 12/5 Mr. Trattles would never see red as red; he would see ‘signal red’ as green.

1936 Times Educ. Suppl. 21 Nov. p. iv/1 Gules..is not included in the range, but signal-red, similar but not quite so yellow, takes its place.

2006 Blueprint July 46 I spy..the dazzling signal-red body of a 300SL Gullwing.

signal sequence n. Molecular Biology = signal peptide n.

ΚΠ

1970 BioScience 20 1292/2 Additional manipulations will undoubtedly make it possible to identify and synthesize such signal sequences.

2003 L. Moss What Genes can't Do iii. 82 For protein synthesis to resume the signal sequence must become associated with the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum.

signal service n. = signal corps n.

ΚΠ

1863 A. J. Myer Let. 26 Oct. in Lett. Secretary of Treasury Estimates Additional Appropriations i. 186 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (1864) (38th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Ex. Doc. No. 2) VI I have the honor to transmit herewith an estimate of funds that will be required for the signal service of the army during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865.

1875 Amer. Naturalist 9 320 The Signal Service office at Washington, is to publish in its weather reports [etc.].

1895 Outing 26 399 A new equipment for the Signal Service, the captive balloon.

2000 S. Gilbert Tattoo Hist. xix. 177 Edward W. Nelson, a naturalist working for the U.S. Army Signal Service in the late 19th century, also suggested that these circular tattoos were a relic of wearing a lip-plug or labret.

signals intelligence n. Military information derived from the monitoring, interception, and interpretation of radio signals and similar transmissions (cf. SIGINT n.).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > information > [noun] > obtained by monitoring

signals intelligence1944

SIGINT1969

1944 Times 8 Dec. 7/5 He was..responsible for handling signals intelligence matters.

1976 Time Out 21 May 8/2 Each country's signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency has authority to monitor communications in one area.

2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 25/3 It's not always possible to rely on hard information from signals intelligence.

signal station n. a tower or other building from which signals are sent and received; also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > radio equipment > [noun] > radio station

signal station1803

wireless station1899

radio station1910

daytimer1940

society > communication > indication > signalling > visual signalling > luminous signals > [noun] > fire signal > signal station or watch-tower

firehouse1450

beacon1611

signal station1803

1803 Times 14 Oct. 2/2 The most positive directions are issued that no Officer be absent, on any pretence, from..the Signal Station under his direction.

1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xxv. 332 Under his steady gaze the blood rose slowly to its old signal-station on her cheeks.

1918 M. Berger & M. Berger Secret of Marne ii. i. 102 At this moment a rocket went up from the crest of the hillock which supported the signal-station.

2003 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 6 Sept. 9 He wanted the signal station, which was built about 1911, to become a historic site in its own right.

signal strength n. the amplitude or power of a signal, esp. of a broadcast signal as it reaches a given location or is received by a given aerial.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > strength of

signal strength1912

strength1917

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > power of

signal strength1912

1912 Marconigraph 2 269/2 Observations..showed that during totality the signal strength was increased.

1923 E. W. Marchant Radio Telegr. & Teleph. xi. 117 It is unlikely that we shall ever be able to forecast ‘signal strength’ with any greater certainty than we can forecast the weather that we are likely to have on any particular day.

1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) I. 445/2 Use of small loops concealed within the set is a standard practice for broadcast receivers in areas where signal strength is high.

2008 New Yorker 10 Mar. 86/1 The WiFi Detector Shirt is emblazoned with a diagram whose signal-strength bars light up when you're near a hotspot.

signal strip n. (a) chiefly Military a strip of material that can be laid out on the ground in various patterns to form symbols for the purpose of communicating information to aircraft (now rare); (b) Electronics a strip-shaped conductor or detector.

ΚΠ

1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 261 The whole party circles round the aerodrome until the signal strips for ‘Carry on’ are laid out on the ground.

1954 W. Faulkner Fable 87 He reached the aerodrome and saw the ground signal-strip laid out on it;..not until he saw the other aeroplanes on the ground or landing or coming into land did he recognise it to be the peremptory emergency signal to all aircraft to come down.

1961 Sci. News Let. 8 July 30/3 A color-image producer is controlled by ‘signal strips’ that distribute the time a radiating or electron beam rests on colored phosphors.

2001 Nucl. Instruments & Methods Physics Res. A. 466 383 One wafer has 480 signalstrips, which are parallel to one of the tilted sides, and signals are read out by four helix chips.

signal-to-noise n. = signal-to-noise ratio n.

ΚΠ

1947 U.S. Patent 2,432,134 5 To obtain high gain and also signal-to-noise improvement, it is desirable to use a large number of antennas.

1973 Gramophone Jan. 1349 (advt.) The most advanced stereo cassette deck you can buy..signal-to-noise better than 58 dB.

1993 Sound & Vision Apr. 9 (advt.) Denon AVR Receivers deliver audiophile signal quality (wide dynamic range, high signal-to-noise).

signal-to-noise ratio n. (a) the ratio of the strength of a desired signal to that of unwanted noise or interference; (b) colloquial (chiefly Computing) a measure of how much useful information there is in a system, such as the internet, as a proportion of the entire contents.The signal-to-noise ratio of an electrical signal is typically expressed in decibels.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > noise or interference > signal-to-noise ratio

signal/noise ratio1923

signal-to-noise ratio1923

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > unwanted part of signal > signal or noise ratio

signal/noise ratio1923

signal-to-noise ratio1923

1923 Bell Syst. Tech. Jrnl. 2 139 The signal to noise ratio reaches its minimum during the time when the sunset period intervenes between London and New York.

1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 239 The overall quantum efficiency..is only limited by the necessity to achieve a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio in the emulsion.

1994 AUUGN Apr. 72/2 There is a very active mailing list which has an excellent signal-to-noise ratio and carries lots of good info.

2005 Digital Photographer No. 31. 94/2 This results in an improved signal-to-noise ratio, more consistent colour reproduction [etc.].

2008 Jason Kelly (Nexis) 10 Nov. Most internet databases are not worth your time. The data is often wrong,..creating a low signal-to-noise ratio.

signal transduction n. (a) = transduction n. 2; (b) Cell Biology the processes by which activation of a receptor on the outer surface of the cell membrane results in a response within the cell.

ΚΠ

1958 J. G. Truxal in IRE Trans. Educ. 1 68/1 This approach we would term the signal transduction interpretation, since it emphasizes amplification and/or modification of signals by electromechanical devices.

1965 Q. Rev. Biol. 40 419/1 Instrument systems are analyzed from a functional point of view and typical operations such as signal transduction, amplification, and display are discussed.

1976 M. F. La Via et al. in V. P. Eijsvoogel et al. Leukocyte Membrane Determinants 73 This suggests that membrane changes beyond ligand-receptor complex redistribution are necessary for signal transduction.

1997 Independent on Sunday 20 July (Review Suppl.) 40/3 Signal transduction is the process by which a ‘signal’ in the blood..makes itself known to a cell and prompts a response in the body.

2003 J. R. Cooper et al. Biochem. Basis Neuropharmacol. (ed. 8) iv. 76 Currently, there are four major groups of receptors known to be involved in signal transduction, of which the first two are neurotransmitter-activated.

signal word n. a word used as a signal; spec. a word printed on the packaging of a hazardous material to indicate the degree of toxicity.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > word > [noun] > other specific types of word

hard word1533

household word1574

magic word1581

grandam words1598

signal word1645

book worda1670

wordie1718

my whole1777

foundling1827–38

keyword1827

Mesopotamia1827

thought-word1844

word-symbol1852

nursery word1853

pivot word1865

rattler1865

object word1876

pillow word1877

nonce-word1884

non-word1893

fossil1901

blessed word1910

bogy-word1919

catch-all1922

pseudo-word1929

false friend1931

plus word1939

descriptor1946

meta-word1952

discourse marker1967

shrub2008

society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal > as agreed for concerted action

signal?1576

signal word1645

1645 J. Maynard Serm. to House of Commons 16 The signall word agreed upon was Repete, strike again.

1718 N. Amhurst Protestant Popery ii. 25 Unnumber'd Chieftains, at the Signal Word, Will shine in Armour, and unsheath the Sword.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles vi. xxx. 264 When mute Amadine they heard, Give to their zeal his signal-word.

1908 C. E. Seashore Elem. Exper. Psychol. xvi. 212 The signal shall be a word, and the response shall be..spoken only as soon as the signal-word has been ‘cognized’.

1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts lxiv. 744/2 Under the FHSA, the label must use the signal word ‘Danger’ on substances that are extremely flammable, corrosive, or highly toxic.

2007 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. (Nexis) 6 Jan. b3 All toxic products must carry signal words alerting consumers to their danger.

Derivatives

ˈsignal-like adj.

ΚΠ

1848 Christian Remembrancer Oct. 382 There is a quiet, but mysterious grandeur, in the signal-like warnings of Stromboli.

1935 Amer. Speech 10 250/1 The result obtained..are functionally independent groups of sounds, each of the groups reflecting one of the basic, signal-like values in the given language.

2008 S. D. Zohn Music for Mixed Taste ii. 95 The concluding ‘retraite’ of the courtiers, imbued with signal-like figures in Telemann's movement, parallels the earlier retreat of the hunting party.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	signal
释义	signaln. Brit. /ˈsɪɡnl/, U.S. /ˈsɪɡn(ə)l/ Forms: Middle English–1700s signall, Middle English– signal, 1600s signol, 1600s sinal. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French signal; Latin signale. Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French signal distinguishing mark (beginning of the 14th cent. in Old French as signiau ), badge, symbol (late 14th cent., earliest in specific sense ‘attribute of a saint’), gesture intended to convey information (1456), object used as a sign to convey warning, direction, or information (1665 in the passage translated in quot. 1687 at sense 5b), alteration (after signe sign n.) of Old French, Middle French seignal , seignau (a1209, earliest in sense ‘cross guard of a sword’) < post-classical Latin signale (see below); and partly (ii) < post-classical Latin signale signboard (1205; 1139 as senale ), sign (1247), use as noun of neuter of signalis meant to give a sign (in a text on land-surveying, of uncertain date, but perhaps 6th cent.) < classical Latin signum sign n. + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare also post-classical Latin signalis boundary mark (9th cent. as sinalis in a Spanish source), use as noun of masculine (or feminine) of signalis . Compare Old Occitan senhal (14th cent. or earlier), Catalan senyal (14th cent.), Spanish señal (first half of the 12th cent. as †senal ), Portuguese sinal (1130; also †signal ), Italian segnale (second half of the 13th cent.; also †signale ); also Dutch signaal (1588 as †signael ), German Signal (17th cent.). Compare earlier sign n., with which the word shows large-scale semantic overlap.Rare before the end of the 16th cent. Senses 2 and 4 are not paralleled in French until later (sense 2, 1540 as signail ; sense 4, 1718). With sense 3, which is not paralleled in either French or Latin, compare sign n. 10a. †1. a. A badge, an emblem; a symbol. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > physical representation of abstraction > symbolizing > [noun] > a symbol tokeningc888 tokenc890 print1340 bannerc1380 signingc1390 signala1393 signc1400 similitude?c1400 type?a1500 sacrament1534 resemblance1548 adumbration1552 character1569 picture1580 symbol1590 moral?1594 attribute1600 symbolization1603 allegory1606 emblema1616 hieroglyph1646 simile1682 documentor1684 symptoma1687 monument1728 metaphor1836 presentation1866 symbolisms1876 ideogram1897 picture message1912 figura1959 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 1668 In his hond He bar the signal of his lond With fisshes thre. 1601 W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca sig. A5 His other signols of authoritie, the deckings of a corrupt minde. 1651 R. Lilburne Let. 25 Aug. in G. Ormerod Tracts Mil. Proc. Lancs. Great Civil War 307 The Enemies word was Jesu, and their signal a White about their Arme, our word was Providence, and signal Greens. b. A mark of distinction or honour. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > [noun] > conferring of honour > an) honour(s) or distinction worshipOE mensk?c1225 pre-eminence1433 honoura1500 pre-eminency1555 a feather in the cap, hat1581 garland1591 honorarium1609 honorary1610 blushing honours1623 signal1655 gayness1670 honourability1694 honourable mention1797 special mention1886 1655 M. Carter Anal. Honor in Honor Rediv. 3 Virtue being still admired and honoured, and some signall put upon it. 1685 J. Bunyan Questions Seventh-day-Sabbath v. 85 Now what another signal was here [i.e. at the day of Pentecost] put upon the first day of the week. 2. An indication or token of a fact, quality, future occurrence, etc.; a sign, a symbol. Also as a mass noun. Frequently with of, that. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > [noun] > an indication or sign tokeningc888 fingereOE senyeOE markOE showing?c1225 blossomc1230 signa1325 signifyingc1384 evidencea1393 notea1398 forbysena1400 kenninga1400 knowinga1400 showerc1400 unningc1400 signala1413 signification?a1425 demonstrancec1425 cenyc1440 likelinessc1450 ensign1474 signifure?a1475 outshowinga1500 significativea1500 witter1513 precedent1518 intimation1531 signifier1532 meith1533 monument1536 indicion?1541 likelihood1541 significator1554 manifest1561 show1561 evidency1570 token-teller1574 betokener1587 calendar1590 instance1590 testificate1590 significant1598 crisis1606 index1607 impression1613 denotementa1616 story1620 remark1624 indicium1625 denotation1633 indice1636 signum1643 indiction1653 trace1656 demonstrator1657 indication1660 notationa1661 significatory1660 indicator1666 betrayer1678 demonstration1684 smell1691 wittering1781 notaa1790 blazonry1850 sign vehicle1909 marker1919 rumble1927 a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 818 The myghty tresses of here sonnyssh hers..hangen al aboute here eris Which yaf hym [sc. Pandarus] verray signal of matere [v.r. martyre] Of deth which þat here herte gan desire. 1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. F5^v Since last the sunne Lookt from the hiest period of the sky, Giuing a signall of the dayes mid noone. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. iv. 3 The wearie sonne..Giues signall of a goodlie day to morrow. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. iv. 121 In signall of my loue to thee. View more context for this quotation 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. iv The bread and wine which were but the signalls or visible signes..were made the things signified. View more context for this quotation 1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. i. 12 'Tis a Signal that he has no Thought of Mercy in Store for them. 1725 D. Defoe Voy. round World (1840) 320 All this while we saw no people, nor any signals of any. 1778 V. Knox Ess. II. xxii. 224 To whom we wish to display some signal of our love. 1820 P. B. Shelley Ode to Naples 113 The signal and the seal..Art thou of all these hopes. 1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xviii. 158 The arrival of the piano..was a signal of amity on his part. 1895 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 23 Mar. 434/2 The red and angry appearance of the intestine I now recognize as a signal of the gravest importance. 1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 190/3 (advt.) That first ‘snuffling’ is more than an embarrassing annoyance. It is a signal that you have taken cold. 1969 Jet 7 Aug. 26 It [sc. the moon landing] was an example of man's self-glorification and..a signal of the end of ‘this system of things’. 1999 Black Enterprise Aug. 44/1 Management is investing in technologies or production methods that are increasing earnings—a signal that there's a nice growth spurt ahead. †3. A divine act, a wonder. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > attributes of god(s) > power > act or manifestation of tokenc897 God's tokenOE signa1325 signalc1450 show1548 c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 459 Tho saugh I..alle the mervelouse signals Of the goddys celestials How Mawgree Iuno Eneas..Acheved alle his aventure For Iupiter tooke of hym cure [etc.]. 4. a. A (usually prearranged) gesture, action, or sound acting as the prompt for a particular action, esp. a military manoeuvre. Also figurative: an immediate cause of movement, action, etc. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun] signal?1576 society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal > as agreed for concerted action signal?1576 signal word1645 ?1576 G. Gascoigne Spoyle of Antwerpe sig. B.ii But now vpon a signall geuen, [the castle] ceased to shoote any more, for feare to hurt their owne men. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. iii. 116 Attending but the signall to beginne. View more context for this quotation 1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. E^v Presently they gaue the Signall to Hernand Teillo, that lay vnder the towne with his ambuscado. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 705 All obey'd The wonted signal . View more context for this quotation 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 186 The Signal of Battle being given with two Cannon Shot, we marched in Order of Battalia. 1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives I. 132 The pæan..was the signal to advance. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iii Go on deck, and tell me if thou seest The signal flying for close line of battle. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xix. 134 This was the signal for a grasp all round. 1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vi. §5. 318 The meeting of the Emperor [Charles V] with Henry at Southampton gave the signal for a renewal of the war. 1904 G. K. Chesterton Napoleon of Notting Hill iv. i. 201 To your quarters and await Captain Bruce's signal to advance. 1951 Life 9 July 22 Malik's speech was the signal for a week of speculation, suspicion, and guarded comment. 2000 E. Hunt et al. South Pacific 754 On a signal, about 20 painted male dancers..came into the natsaro to begin the canoe dance. b. Whist and Bridge. A prearranged convention of bidding or play intended to convey information to one's partner. Cf. suit preference signal n. at suit n. Compounds 2a, trump signal n. at trump n.² Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > actions or tactics echo1862 signal1864 Vienna Coup1864 Peter1885 Bath coup1897 promotion1900 finesse1902 switch1921 false-carding1923 squeeze1926 squeeze play1926 suicide squeeze1931 pseudo-squeeze1932 throw-in1932 suit preference signal1934 underlead1934 psyching1938 ruff and discard1939 hold-up1945 upper cut1955 safety play1959 1864 W. B. Dick Amer. Hoyle 11 Blue Peter.—A signal for trumps, allowable in modern play. 1885 R. A. Proctor How to play Whist ix. 98 An original signal..should mean..that the signaller is..very strong in trumps. 1939 N. de V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. 140 High-low play as a signal to the partner is termed a peter if it occurs in a suit contract and an echo at No-Trumps. 1998 Eng. Bridge Aug. 15/3 So the high-low signal to show a doubleton had come into general use by the turn of the century. 2006 S. Auken I love this Game vi. 73 The best you can do is have a general principle and an understanding in your partnership whether it is the sender or the receiver of the signal who is supposed to guess in this kind of situation. c. American Football. A coded verbal instruction given by a player, typically the quarterback, to other team members which specifies the next play or formation. Cf. signal caller n. at Compounds 3, to call (the) signals at Phrases. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres rush1857 punt-out1861 goal-kicking1871 safety1879 safety touchdown1879 scrimmage1880 rushing1882 safety touch1884 touchback1884 forward pass1890 run1890 blocking1891 signal1891 fake1893 onside kick1895 tandem-play1895 pass play1896 spiral1896 shift1901 end run1902 straight-arm1903 quarterback sneak1904 runback1905 roughing1906 Minnesota shift1910 quarterbacking1910 snap-back1910 pickoff1912 punt return1914 screen forward pass1915 screen pass1920 power play1921 sneak1921 passback1922 snap1922 defence1923 reverse1924 carry1927 lateral1927 stiff-arm1927 zone1927 zone defence1927 submarine charge1928 squib1929 block1931 pass rushing1933 safetying1933 trap play1933 end-around1934 straight-arming1934 trap1935 mousetrap1936 buttonhook1938 blitzing1940 hand-off1940 pitchout1946 slant1947 strike1947 draw play1948 shovel pass1948 bootleg1949 option1950 red dog1950 red-dogging1951 rollout1951 submarine1952 sleeper pass1954 draw1956 bomb1960 swing pass1960 pass rush1962 blitz1963 spearing1964 onsides kick1965 takeaway1967 quarterback sack1968 smash-mouth1968 veer1968 turn-over1969 bump-and-run1970 scramble1971 sack1972 nose tackle1975 nickel1979 pressure1981 1891 W. Camp Amer. Football 123 The important fact to be remembered in selecting a system of signals is that it is far more demoralizing to confuse your own team than to mystify your opponents. 1946 Sat. Evening Post 9 Mar. 10/2 Tele addicts contend they see football better than from any seat in the stadium, and can lip-read the signals. 1956 A. Danzig Hist. Amer. Football 211 Illinois began the huddle because too often it was impossible to hear the signals. 1992 J. M. Juran Juran on Quality by Design vii. 226 The Giant's defensive quarterback called out the signal ‘green’. 2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Sept. c23/3 Goodell is exploring putting hearing devices in other offensive players' helmets so they would be able to hear the quarterback's signals despite the roar of the crowd. 5. a. A gesture, action, sound, etc., intended to convey warning, direction, or information; an intimation. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal tokeningc888 tokena1000 signc1384 watch1578 signal1590 signet1590 tattoo1644 trumpet-note1813 trumpet-call1909 1590 A. Munday tr. N. de Herberay First Bk. Amadis of Gaule xv. f. 77 Faire and softly did Amadis knock thereon with his finger..and when she heard the louing signall of hir friend, she awaked Mabila. 1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 62 ^v I..being shypp'd, gaue signall with my hand, Vp to the Cliffe where I did see thee stand. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 72 The Son gave signal high To the bright Minister that watchd, hee blew His Trumpet. View more context for this quotation 1698 tr. F. Froger Relation Voy. Coasts Afr. 8 We likewise made signals to the other ships. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 12 The Master..ordered to fire a Gun as a Signal of Distress. 1732 T. Lediard tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos II. ix. 281 The garrison beat..a signal of surrender. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. i. 9 Ellena..as she drew nearer to Olivia, gave a signal, and passed on to her cell. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxiii. 111 It was a keen and warning look, And well the Chief the signal took. 1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island 119 If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man's dead. 1896 Law Times Rep. 73 615/1 A bell rang which was a signal..that a train was coming. 1910 Automobile 13 Jan. 125/1 When he [sc. an automobilist] has sounded a signal he in part frees himself from legal responsibilities. 1944 E. Blyton Five run away Together (1949) xvii. 146 I saw a light out to sea last night—maybe that's a signal that the smugglers were leaving something in the wreck for the Sticks to fetch. 2002 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 16 Jan. 17 A search helicopter saw a signal made from their reflective surfboard covers. b. An object used as a sign to convey warning, direction, or information. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > thing or apparatus used for signal1687 disc1856 signaller1872 shape1879 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. lxi. 94 There is a small Church in the Sea,..which serves for a Light-house and Signal [Fr. signal]. 1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. ii. 84 When the Surveyor is at a proper Station, the Assistant must set up the black Signal. 1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede III. v. xlvii. 183 He has something in his hand—he is holding it up as if it were a signal. 1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 105 Let these signals..be so placed that the same horizontal plane will pass through each of them. 1912 Chatterbox No. 49 402/2 John erected a signal on the little promontory. This signal consisted of a pole, from which fluttered a flag. 2000 P. Pullman Amber Spyglass (2001) iii. 43 The witch had planted it [sc. a flower] as a signal in a cranny of the rock. 6. An alteration of an electric current, electromagnetic wave, or the like by means of which information is conveyed from one place to another; such a current or wave; (also) a current or wave of natural origin that is regarded as conveying information about its source. Also: = signal strength n. at Compounds 3.The earliest electric telegraphs worked by using an electric current to alter the position of a needle, or to indicate one of a set of letters, at the receiving end. The signal consisted in what the current brought about at the receiving end (the message), rather than in the form or nature of the current as in later use (cf. modulation n. 7a).electric, luminance, picture, programme, radio, television, test, video signal, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal signal1838 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] signal1838 1838 Mechanics' Mag. 20 Jan. 261/1 Professor Gauss..proposed to give different signals, by deflecting a single magnetic needle at the distant extremity at different angles. 1842 Mag. Sci. 5 Feb. 354 A system of telegraphs, commanding only from two to eight signals each, and worked by lads, or porters... The signals are given by pointers, each suspended vertically. 1857 U.S. Patent 17,673 1/2 Each letter, word, or syllable of a message is represented by a distinct signal. These signals are transmitted in succession along the main conductor. 1873 Trans. Inst. Engineers & Shipbuilders Scotl. 16 119 If several thousand Leyden Jars were distributed along an aerial line of telegraph..the signals through the line would exhibit exactly the same inductive retardation. 1923 Radio Times 28 Sept. 2/2 After sunset signals may increase very considerably. 1938 Science 1 July (Suppl.) 11/2 Controlled by a master clock at the radio station, signals are sent out at the selected interval. 1951 J. D. MacDonald Wine of Dreamers i. 7 It is almost a month since the last weak signals were received, and all expedition personnel must be assumed dead. 1995 N.Y. Times 24 Jan. c12/2 Some neutron stars, spinning rapidly, emit pulsating radio signals. 2003 ‘S. Pax’ Weblog Diary 26 Mar. in Baghdad Blog 136 We don't get Iraqi TV, but other areas do. Maybe they are transmitting a weak signal or something. 7. a. A device, typically a coloured light or a semaphore on an upright post, adjacent to a railway line, which is used to give instructions or warnings to train drivers, esp. in relation to the state of the line ahead. ΚΠ 1838 Mechanic's Mag. Sept. 416/1 The signal is the invention of Dr. Church,..and there is no doubt it will soon be adopted by the railway companies generally. 1877 Times 23 Nov. 4/5 A train must be in absolute safety, so far as collisions are concerned, so long as the outdoor signals are visible, and so long, also, as the driver acts according to their implied directions. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 76/2 At points the track circuit is run through a circuit breaker, so that the ‘opening’ of the points sets the signal for the section. 1971 Mod. Railways May 201/1 In 1834, the first fixed signal was erected. 2010 Kentish Gaz. (Nexis) 30 Dec. In addition to platforms being extended and track and signal upgrades at the station, the subway has undergone several improvements. b. Any of various devices (now esp. a set of coloured lights) situated on or adjacent to a road, junction, etc., and used to control or direct the movement of traffic. Cf. traffic light n. 2. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > vehicular traffic > [noun] > traffic control > traffic lights traffic signal1893 traffic light1913 signal1915 light1925 robot1929 1915 Munic. Jrnl. 7 Jan. 12/2 Each signal has a ten-inch red lens to indicate ‘stop’ or a green lens to indicate ‘start’. 1933 Traffic Signs (Size, Col. & Type) Prov. Regs. §27 Three lights shall be used facing the stream of traffic which the signal is intended to control, one red, one amber and one green. 1960 J. H. Jones in E. Davies Roads ii. 26 Linking is the interconnection of two or more traffic signals in such a manner that the beginning of the green period at one signal is related to that of the previous signal. 2004 Geelong (Victoria) News (Nexis) 11 Aug. 1 With signals down at major intersections, drivers were forced to edge cautiously into busy junctions. c. North American. = indicator n. 3g. Cf. turn signal n. at turn- comb. form . ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > direction indicator indicator1932 trafficator1933 direction indicator1937 signal1939 turn signal1949 winker1951 flasher1958 indicator lamp1961 indicator light1961 1939 Pop. Mech. Apr. 572/2 To operate the signal, the driver flips the toggle switch to right or left, depending on the direction he plans to turn. 1964 Changing Times Nov. 39/2 For any maneuver other than a sharp turn, it is necessary to turn the signal off manually. 1992 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 23 Dec. b1 A woman in a lightly battered Maxima had been waiting, signal blinking, for a break in traffic to claim the spot. 2010 D. Ben-Ari Car Ownership for Women ii. 24 Remember to turn your signal off if it fails to go off automatically. Phrases to call (the) signals: (a) American Football (of a player, typically a quarterback) to signal the next play or formation to other team members (cf. sense 4c); (b) North American colloquial to decide how something should be done; to give directions to others (cf. to call the shots at shot n.¹ 7i). ΚΠ 1894 Overland Monthly Jan. 20 He could hear..the indifferent voice of the referee droning out, ‘second down’..or again could hear the sharp, quick tones of the captains, calling the signals. 1905 St. Nicholas Nov. 68/1 Boomly stood back of the little quarterback, fearing to detect some sign of nervousness in the voice that should call the signals. 1952 Changing Times Apr. 11/2 Calling the signals takes patience, skill and practice. You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Don't rush it. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters ii. 61 He was the man at the top who was calling the signals. 1991 Sports Illustr. 14 Oct. 76/2 Philadelphia could have beaten the Bucs with an experienced warm body calling signals. 2010 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 3 Oct. g1 Calling signals from the sidelines would be the governor and key legislators. Compounds C1. attributive. a. Denoting something employed as, or used in giving, a signal or signals.See also signal arm n., signal light n., signal strip n., signal word n. at Compounds 3. signal apparatus n. ΚΠ 1840 Times 26 Nov. 3/1 The pneumatic signal apparatus to be applied to the tunnels. 1937 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 41 295 Sites..for threshold lighting and other signal apparatus required to assist the pilot. 2001 Evening Standard (Nexis) 28 Mar. 4 All Metropolitan line services were halted between Baker Street and Aldgate yesterday while signal apparatus was examined. signal beacon n. ΚΠ 1667 Earl of Orrery Let. 14 July in Coll. State Lett. (1742) 269 These ships came from the seaward,..which made the signal Beacon be fired. 1781 St. James's Chron. 28–31 July Signal Beacons..fixed at all the distinguishing Places on the Sea Coast. 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxvi. 345 A large signal-beacon or cairn. 2003 Daily Tel. 28 May 3/3 The battery on his satellite telephone went dead, leaving him with only a signal beacon as a means of contact with his team. signal bell n. ΚΠ 1808 National Intelligencer & Washington Advertiser 30 Sept. The signal-bell..is tolling with such frequency that the very boys and negroes in the streets halloo. 1908 C. W. Wallace Children of Chapel 11 The modern signal bell of the German theatre. 2005 R. S. Wheeler Fire in Hole 85 He pulled the signal bell, unsure how many tugs it took to get the hoist operator to respond. signal book n. ΚΠ 1744 T. Mathews Narr. Proc. His Majesty's Fleet 74 Our Signal Book at present, has been found..to be defective and insufficient. 1865 A. Smith Summer in Skye I. 266 The sailor in possession of the signal-book reads the signal. 2003 Internat. Security 27 208 Evidence was found that they had..stolen a British signal book. signal cannon n. ΚΠ 1760 Crit. Rev. July 2 About 25,000 able..men, who were obliged, at firing the signal cannon, to appear in their martial accoutrements. 1831 N.-Y. Spectator 19 Aug. Far more terrific and appalling is the sound of a signal cannon. 1934 Music & Lett. 15 115 After an introductory slow march, bugle and trumpet calls and signal cannon, the fun begins. 2009 New Haven (Connecticut) Reg. (Nexis) 2 July Care manufactures between 250 and 300 signal cannons a year, mainly for yacht clubs, vfw posts, Scouting groups and collectors. signal code n. ΚΠ 1822 Morning Post 21 Sept. The practice of the new Signal Code seemed to occupy the time of the several members with the minutest attention. 1877 J. Habberton Jericho Road 94 Between the societies of neighboring counties there often existed signal-codes, and unwritten extradition and reciprocity treaties. 2003 B. Solomon Railroad Signaling 140 If train control equipment fails..the most restrictive signal code..is received. signal fire n. ΚΠ 1743 J. Davidson tr. Virgil Æneid ii. 91 in Wks. Virgil I. The royal Galley from her Stern had set up the signal Fire. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 290 The signal fires were blazing fifty miles off. 1906 ‘M. Twain’ Horse's Tale (1907) i. 4 I know some of the Indian signs—the signs they make with their hands, and by signal-fires at night and columns of smoke by day. 2010 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 16 May a1 He gathered cactus pads for sustenance and wood to make a signal fire. signal flag n. ΚΠ 1725 J. Hammond Pract. Surveyor x. 100 Let..a Boat be manned out with a Signal Flag. 1885 Cent. Mag. May 84/2 The signal-flag was planted on the eastern end of the ridge. 1953 Mariner's Mirror 39 76 There has seldom been much secrecy as to the composition of the signal flags actually employed. 2003 Oxf. Amer. May 62/1 The woman writing about heritage tourism waves her Southern Sunset cocktail above her head like a signal flag. signal flame n. ΚΠ 1753 A. Strahan tr. Virgil First Six Bks. Æneid ii. 62 The Royal Ship had rais'd the Signal Flame. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. xxx. 169 Might not my father's beadsman hoar..Kindle a signal-flame? 1910 J. B. Connolly Open Water 257 He..saw the blue signal flame burning near the rail of the ship. 2005 E. E. Knight Dragon Champion 368 A mountaintop signal-flame on their Isle of Ice. signal flare n. ΚΠ 1879 Naut. Mag. July 606 Large merchant ships have no difficulty as a rule in making signals of distress; the flames are made by means of Holmes's Signal Flare, a composition which burns in water. 1967 E. Hamilton Weapon from Beyond 99 He looked at Chane..and considered what would happen if he dropped him out of a hatchway, suited and attached to a signal flare. 2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xii. 185 Women notably have invented the signal flare, the spacesuit, the bulletproof vest and the windshield wiper. signal gun n. ΚΠ 1685 W. Avery Let. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) VI. 151 A green Round maple stick being in their Pitt or hearth and being encouraged with heat will somtims give a crak like a sinal gun. 1728 J. Morgan Compl. Hist. Algiers I. 273 The Signal Gun had been fired over and over. 1843 C. J. Lever Jack Hinton vi. 37 When the signal-gun announced the commencement of the action. 1998 S. Sontag et al. Blind Man's Bluff ii. 34 He called for the ‘noisemakers’, devices that could be shot out the signal gun in the stern room. signal horn n. ΚΠ 1789 R. Mason Particular Descr. Kelso 34 The signal horn now kindles rage no more. 1828 Times 12 Nov. 2/6 The hunter's signal horn is sounding. 1955 Wisconsin Mag. Hist. 39 62/1 A bellows-operated signal horn used on river boats seventy-five years ago. 2010 Northern Territory News (Darwin) (Nexis) 20 Nov. 7 Carrying signal horns is a maritime safety requirement. signal lamp n. ΚΠ 1814 Caledonian Mercury 13 June Mr King, a tin-plate worker, was applied to..on the subject of manufacturing a new description of signal lamp. 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. July 479/2 The apparatus is simply a new glass for the signal-lamp, facing along the same way and throwing a powerful beam of light over the whole length of the arm. 1992 S. Hall BR Signalling Handbk. 49/2 A small aperture is cut in the back of the signal lamp. signal lantern n. ΚΠ 1779 R. Coram et al. Affidavit 30 Oct. in B. B. Oberg Papers of Benjamin Franklin (1993) XXX. 628 Three Large Signal Lanthorns With proper Signal Wax Candles in them..had..been hung over the bow quarter and Wraist of the B. H. R. in a horisontal Line, which was the Signal of reconnaissance. 1882 Cent. Mag. Mar. 756/1 The station-master stopped with a cluster of..signal-lanterns in his hand and cast their light over the sorrel. 1933 Times 5 Dec. 47/7 These are the signal lanterns, green, amber, and red, and the rubber strip let into the surface of the road and acting as a vehicle detector. 2009 R. L. Cave Peace Keepers vii. 113 The trick was to keep himself and his signal lantern from being spotted by the rustlers. signal mark n. ΚΠ 1813 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 18 Sept. Decatur put on a sailor's roundabout and hat, so as not to be a signal mark for the enemy's sharp-shooters. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma viii. 259 These three texts..may well stand as the great signal-marks to it. 1963 Times 8 May 10/1 (heading) Signal mark on lamp-post. signal mirror n. ΚΠ 1949 Sci. News-Let. 17 Sept. 179/3 Equipment contained in the packaged unit includes a tent-like canopy,..flashlight, signal mirror, [etc.]. 2009 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Aug. 116/1 The mirror was always in the drawer, the little handheld signal mirror, to use if one is lost. signal note n. ΚΠ 1828 Louisiana Advertiser 12 Jan. Each patriot eagerly awaits the signal note of battle. 1922 Gen. Electric Rev. Oct. 603/2 With continuous-wave telegraphy, the signal note can be adjusted to the pitch or tone most suitable for reading through static. 1994 H. Hollick Kingmaking xlix. 590 Each man listened to the signal notes of the curled bronze trumpets. signal pistol n. ΚΠ 1823 J. Hogg Three Perils of Woman I. i. 235 As he pronounced the last word, the signal pistol was fired. 1928 Times 16 Aug. 10/2 A signal pistol went off, and in a few seconds the roar of the three engines being run up came through the darkness. 2009 Airports (Nexis) 3 Feb. 2 Bird controllers and inspectors carry out routine patrols and sharpshooters fire signal pistols and set off numerous kinds of firecrackers. signal rocket n. ΚΠ 1765 R. Jones New Treat. Artific. Fireworks iv. 135 Signal-rockets..are headed with stars, serpents, &c. 1887 Spectator 30 July 1019/2 A signal-rocket sent up from the flag-ship. 1997 D. Hansen Sole Survivor xli. 405 The emergency cabinet..housed the ship's distress flares, signal rockets and the rifle used when large sharks became entangled in their net. signal shell n. ΚΠ 1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) A continual discharge of these signal shells. 1900 Times 20 Aug. 7/7 The foreman of a timber-yard..found on Saturday morning a signal shell, or rocket, in a stack that was being shifted. 2001 D. Detzer Allegiance xvi. 272 There it was, the signal shell rising from Fort Johnson. signal shot n. ΚΠ 1819 Times 19 July 3/6 A sort of signal shot was fired upon Cork Hill. 1908 Outing Aug. 616/1 It was with a sort of triumphant flourish that I fired the two signal shots. 2004 Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampsh.) (Nexis) 12 Dec. b1 Standing there like Elmer Fudd and firing off three signal shots at calm, rational intervals. signal smoke n. ΚΠ 1823 New Times 26 Sept. 2/5 Election of a Pope... There was no smoke; the fumist, no doubt, not having as usual taken the precaution to open the funnel of the pan, so that the signal smoke was consumed within. 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xviii. 179 The smoke-colored twilight emerged in slow puffs like signal smoke from a blanket. 2003 D. M. Fox Patton's Vanguard xviii. 386 Despite Leach's men..setting off red signal smoke, the planes from the xix tac made two bombing and strafing runs against the Shermans. signal torch n. ΚΠ 1707 E. Fenton Ode to Sun 10 On high her Signal Torch displays. 1854 M. R. Mitford Atherton 397 Donna Leonora..resolved to obey implicitly Don Fernando's directions, to wait in the balcony until she perceived the signal-torch. 1938 Times 24 Feb. 11/4 Other equipment includes 28 signal torches with 350 electric bulbs, 202 steel helmets, 680 haversacks, [etc.]. 2002 Gold Coast Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 18 Sept. Mr Wong said a 3000-tonne cargo ship also spotted their SOS with a signal torch but left after shining searchlights at the raft. signal whistle n. ΚΠ 1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake v. 206 Fancy..in the plover's shrilly strain, The signal whistle heard again. 1895 Mod. Steam Engine 51 The signal whistle is shown at g. 2002 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 Sept. 46/2 And then there's..the comparison of various signal-whistles. b. Denoting a place or thing from which signals are given or worked, esp. on a railway or for naval or military purposes.See also signal box n., signal station n. at Compounds 3, signal post n.¹, signal post n.² signal bridge n. ΚΠ 1854 Reynolds's Newspaper 27 Aug. 12/3 Witness could not tell exactly how far they were from the signal-bridge when the switchman ran out. 1899 F. T. Bullen Way Navy 75 As I write comes a messenger from the signal-bridge..with a copy of signal just made from the flagship. 2003 J. Kelly Trackside Scenes you can Model 67 The signal bridge just around the bend is for downhill trains. signal cabin n. ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > signal-box signal box1822 signal cabin1861 switch-tower1897 tower1900 1861 Daily News 4 Oct. 3/1 He was afterwards taken into the signal cabin by Mr. Hodges and searched. 1889 G. Findlay Working & Managem. Eng. Railway 69 The signal cabin contains a most complicated piece of mechanism, called the ‘locking frame’. 2007 A. McDermott Hunt for Atlantis vi. 101 He saw the fleeing driver running towards a signal cabin near the end of the sidings. signal gantry n. ΚΠ 1903 Railway Engineer 24 372 The 4.30 p.m. train had come nearly to a stand, and was about two engines' length from the signal gantry. 2003 R. B. Duffey & J. W. Saull Know the Risk 196 The position of the signal gantry..has potential for leading drivers to reach erroneous conclusions. signal house n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > place from which signals given signal house1796 1796 Gentleman's Mag. 66 i. 369 In the first distance is seen the signal-house, with Bogner..beyond. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 160 Most of the signal-house keepers and dredge men along the canal seem French. 2005 P. A. Aho Lighthouse Designs 41 The octagonal light tower was built atop the signal house. signal mast n. ΚΠ 1799 tr. J. P. Ramel Narr. Deportation to Cayenne 105 About an hundred paces from the sea-side, leaving the redoubt and the signal mast to the right, we came in front of Mr. Kormann's house. 1861 Times 14 Nov. 5/2 A cone, point up, was hoisted from the signal-mast at the high lighthouse overlooking Shields harbour. 1936 Boys' Life Oct. 29/1 A flag pole and signal mast were set up. 2010 Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) (Nexis) 15 Dec. At the less heavily traveled East Parker crossing in North Scranton, larger flashing lights will be installed, along with the new signal masts. signal pole n. ΚΠ 1768 J. Cremer Jrnl. 19 July in R. R. Bellamy Ramblin' Jack (1936) 179 I was to order Sallutes, and mind his orders..and when the boate was to come on shoar by a pennant or a Signall Pole. 1864 Times 29 Mar. 8/1 A sentry stands there, also a sentry-box;..also a signal pole. 1932 Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. 11 306 While setting up a signal pole at Ross Mountain he was severely injured. 2010 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 6 Dec. 1 a Not only was the light out, but the signal pole was warped and faced away from the track. signal ship n. ΚΠ 1720 H. Walker Jrnl. or Acct. Exped. Canada 66 To hazard the loss of the Fleet, and being also a Signal-Ship, was judged by the Court Martial, to have been..a Breach of Discipline and Order. 1864 Times 12 July 11/5 The Pigmy paddle steamer..sailed from Portsmouth yesterday morning to resume her station south of the Isle of Wight as an experimental signal ship, in conjunction with a signal party on St. Catherine's Down. 1949 Southwestern Hist. Q. 52 400 Because of the absence of the signal ship,..the fleet passed by the bar during the night. 2010 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 9 Nov. 36 He served on HMS Meynell,..before moving to HMS Bleasdale, which acted as signal ship at the Dieppe Raid. signal staff n. ΚΠ 1782 J. Yeo Omar & Zemira I. iii. 188 I hung the remains of my turban upon a towering pole, which we had erected as a signal staff. 1898 G. Parker Battle of Strong xxxv Not far from her was the signal-staff which telegraphed to another signal-staff inland. Upon the staff now was hoisted a red flag. 1992 J. Buffett Where is Joe Merchant? 23 I dropped below Morro Castle, with its aged towers, modern signal staffs, and black cannons. signal tower n. ΚΠ 1757 J. Byng Genuine Tryal Admiral Byng 126 The Signal for the Attack was given by a Cannon Shot and four Bombs fired from the Signal Tower. 1881 Cent. Mag. Nov. 155/2 In like manner, the new signal-tower was weighted with sand. 1996 F. McCourt Angela's Ashes (1997) xii. 311 He leads us to the end of the platform where we have to climb a ladder to the signal tower. c. Chiefly Military. Designating a person connected with signalling.See also signal corps n. at Compounds 3, signalman n., signalwoman n. signal boy n. ΚΠ 1853 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 31 May This mob was aided in its operations by telegraphic intelligence, communicated by signal boys, stationed at regular intervals. 1888 Daily News 18 Dec. 6/4 The dead body of..the signal boy at Spa-road Station..was found..on the line. 2006 Brentwood Gaz. (Nexis) 21 June 11 A Royal Navy signal boy on HMS Hood, he was killed in action in the Denmark Strait. signal engineer n. ΚΠ 1875 Electr. News 1 July 35/2 Austin Chambers, signal engineer. 1951 Pop. Sci. Sept. 135/1 A New York subway motorman, told Bruce Coughlin, who is a signal engineer,..that there ought to be a ‘wigwag’..before a tunnel entrance near the Delaware Water Gap. 2010 Harlow, Epping & Sawbridgeworth Star (Nexis) 21 Oct. Hawks..is re-training to become a signal engineer with London Underground. signal guard n. ΚΠ 1813 Zeemans Woordenboek 166/2 Wachter. (Sein) Guetteur. Signal guard. 1851 Hand-bk. for Travellers in Devon & Cornwall 145/1 During the war a signal guard was stationed at the summit of this hill, on the look-out for invaders, and ready to arouse the country by a bonfire. 1914 Indianapolis Star 21 Apr. 15/4 A marine and signal guard had to be called upon to act as doorkeeper and hold back the more importunate. 2003 L. K. Wilson Heartless Hero xvi. 105 The prince yelled at the signal guard. This time the guard came running down the steps of the signal tower. signal lieutenant n. ΚΠ 1796 Minutes Court-martial A. J. P. Molloy p. xv John Blake, Signal Lieutenant. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Signal lieutenant, an officer in the Royal Navy having the charge of signals on board a flag-ship. 1994 P. O'Brian Commodore (1996) i. 14 I should not be in that signal-lieutenant's shoes for instant promotion to flag-rank. signal midshipman n. ΚΠ 1779 Minutes Proc. Court-martial Admiral Keppel 70 I..endeavour to find the succeeding Midshipman that was appointed as Signal Midshipman. 1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. xvi. 207 I made my appearance on deck, and was ordered by the first lieutenant to do my duty under the signal midshipman. 1996 P. O'Brian Yellow Admiral vi. 143 The signal midshipman, an oldster named Callow who had sailed with Jack before. signal officer n. (signals officer) ΚΠ 1788 Ess. Signals 26 These..are frequently to be inspected by the Signal officer. 1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. iii. 86 The signal officers..had to make out the number of the flag. 1885 E. Vivant Dictionnaire Technique Anglais-Francais (at cited word) Signals officer, officer chargé des signaux. 1918 R. Aldington Let. 20 Oct. in R. Aldington & H. D. Lives in Lett. (2003) 129 I have been made signal officer for the time being, the other signal officer having been wounded in the last ‘show’. 1937 D. Jones In Parenthesis v. 126 The Signals Officer passed through to the partitioned-off space behind the curtain of grey blanket. 1985 Times 6 Sept. 14/6 Brigadier P. D. Alexander to be Signal Officer in Chief. 2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon xi. 173 He'd begun as a signals officer, seconded briefly to Spetsnaz in Afghanistan. C2. Objective. signal fitter n. ΚΠ 1862 Birmingham Daily Post 8 Sept. 3/5 William Clark, signal fitter to the London and North-Western Railway Company, said he put a new wire on the distance signal on the 7th of August. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 5/3 Two signal fitters were standing in the four-foot way. 1998 Grimsby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 13 June 3 He was to take some 18 different jobs before settling as a signal-fitter on the railways. signal giver n. ΚΠ 1684 J. Phillips tr. Plutarch Conc. Musick in M. Morgan et al. tr. Plutarch Morals I. i. 170 The Signal-giver..sounded the Signal of Battle. 1853 National Mag. Sept. 288/2 The signal-giver at Greenwich had the means of observing the passage of a star across the field of the transit telescope and of giving signal at the same time. 1968 Dædalus 97 1204 Daley's performance has been that of a ‘signal giver’ rather than ‘orchestrator’. 2009 C. Johnson Animals make us Human 101 To be a good trainer you have to be a good signal giver. signal keeper n. ΚΠ 1791 tr. R. de Paradés Secret Mem. 24 Having gone to the signal keeper as a deserter of a ship, and begged him to conceal him in his house. 1852 Times 30 July 8/4 George Maughan, pointsman and signal-keeper on the Clarence and Leeds Northern lines. 1922 G. Bronson-Howard Devil's Chaplain v. xvii. 281 There used to be a signal-keeper on Mount St. Kilda's once. 2007 W. Weaver tr. C. E. Gadda That Awful Mess on Via Merulana viii. 298 She's the niece of the signal-keeper. signal processing adj. and n. ΚΠ 1959 Chicago Tribune 28 Sept. iv. 17/1 (advt.) On the ground a standard army expansible van containing the signal processing equipment. 1960 Q. Rev. Biol. 35 245 The papers are divided into ten groups: Cellular biology;..Sensory Receptors and Signal Processing; [etc.]. 1998 K. C. Cole Universe & Teacup ii. viii. 94 One of the leaders in this approach to signal processing..calls wavelets ‘mathematical microscopes’. 2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xxiv. 265 Technology based on elastic surface waves has led to the development of compact and inexpensive signal-processing components. C3. signal anchor n. Molecular Biology a signal peptide occurring in the middle of a peptide molecule. ΚΠ 1985 Cell 40 630/1 The hydrophobic domain acts as an extended signal-anchor. 2007 T. A. Rhomberg et al. in P. R. Jungblut & M. Hecker Proteomics Microbial Pathogens xi. 208 SignalP has been shown to be the most successful program in correctly assigning signal peptides, signal anchors, and nonsecretory proteins. signal anxiety n. Psychoanalysis anxiety which alerts the ego to danger and stimulates defence mechanisms.This theory was put forward in 1926 by Sigmund Freud in his Hemmung, Symptom und Angst. [Compare German Angstsignal anxiety signal (1926 in Freud).] ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > theories of Freud > [noun] > self-conscious mind > danger sign signal anxiety1929 1929 Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-anal. 10 396 Thus a secondary hate may be developed as a means of coping with either fear or guilt, a secondary fear attitude (‘signal’ anxiety) as a means of coping with guilty hate. 1968 C. Rycroft Crit. Dict. Psychoanal. 154 Signal anxiety..in Freud's formulation is the response of the ego to internal danger and the stimulus to the formation and use of defence-mechanisms. 1991 E. Rayner Independent Mind in Brit. Psychoanal. ii. 28 Signal anxiety..consists of the release of a smaller quantity of affect which activates appropriate adaptive ego functions. signal arm n. a pivoted projection on a semaphore, which may be raised and lowered for the purpose of signalling on a railway or at a level crossing. ΚΠ 1851 Morning Post 31 May 5/2 Robson is not to approach me until the signal arm is lowered. 1901 Railway Mag. May 463/2 A neighbouring signal-arm falls. 1994 San Jose (Calif.) Mercury (Nexis) 12 Nov. 1 b The warning lights were flashing at the crossing but the signal arms were found still in an upright position. signal averager n. Electronics a device which performs signal averaging. ΚΠ 1964 Science 22 May 925/1 (advt.) None of the ‘signal averaging’ devices now available really average signals... What these non-averaging ‘signal averagers’ really do is add the recurrent waveforms. 2006 A. Fried & D. Richter in D. E. Heard Analyt. Techniques Atmospheric Measurem. ii. 113 The detector signal thus acquired is co-averaged in a computer or signal averager. signal averaging n. Electronics a procedure in which repeated measurements of a signal are summed or averaged in order to cancel out random background noise, typically used for increasing signal-to-noise ratios. ΚΠ 1944 U.S. Patent 2,352,958 2/1 A filter which will give a continuous D.C., the output of which is then passed into a signal averaging network. 1968 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 308 97 A photometric technique..which similarly employs 1000 giant laser pulses and signal-averaging to obtain a s/n ratio of 4. 2009 A. M. Weiner Ultrafast Optics iii. 108 The delay range can be scanned many times to allow signal averaging for improved sensitivity. signal box n. a place from which signals are made and received, spec. a building beside a railway track from which signals, points, and other equipment are controlled. ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > types of signal system > signal-box signal box1822 signal cabin1861 switch-tower1897 tower1900 1822 Proc. Gen. Court Martial Commodore James Barron 77 He then stood on the signal box and hailed the Leopard, (who was then firing on us) saying ‘he would send his boat on board’. 1850 in Rep. Commissioners Railways XXX. (1851) App. No. 65. 104 The train..came into collision at the crossing opposite to signal-box No. 4, with an engine belonging to the South Eastern Railway Company. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XX. 238/2 Distant signals..worked by wire communication from the signal box, were, it is believed, first introduced..in 1846. 1923 W. G. Chapman 10.30 Limited x. 79 The home signal is the second signal reached and is usually near a signal box. 2008 Irish Times (Nexis) 29 Mar. (Mag.) 6 The old engine sheds, the water towers and the signal boxes are all fast disappearing now. signal caller n. American Football a player, typically a quarterback, who signals the next play or formation to other team members. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > types of player side tackle1809 nose guard1852 rusher1877 goalkicker1879 quarterback1879 runner1880 quarter1883 full back1884 left guard1884 snap-back1887 snapper-back1887 running back1891 tackle1891 defensive end1897 guard1897 interferer1897 receiver1897 defensive back1898 defensive tackle1900 safety man1901 ball carrier1902 defensive lineman1902 homebrew1903 offensive lineman1905 lineman1907 returner1911 signal caller1915 rover1916 interference1920 punt returner1926 pass rusher1928 tailback1930 safety1931 blocker1935 faker1938 scatback1946 linesman1947 flanker1953 platoon player1953 corner-back1955 pulling guard1955 split end1955 return man1957 slot-back1959 strong safety1959 wide receiver1960 line-backer1961 pocket passer1963 tight end1963 run blocker1967 wideout1967 blitzer1968 1915 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 23 Sept. 10/5 One of the best signal callers produced in the state for many years. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. c 9/1 John Banaszak jarred the ball loose from Bills signal caller David Mays. 2005 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Oct. 272/2 Western Pennsylvania..produced an inordinate number of great signal callers. signal corps n. a military unit in charge of signal communications and information, esp. (with capital initials) the branch of the United States Army established in 1860 for this purpose. ΚΠ 1861 Lowell (Mass.) Daily Citizen 7 Oct. General McClellan has detailed some six hundred lieutenants from the army for a signal corps. 1895 Outing 26 396/1 The Signal Corps is a body of highly trained soldiers whose duty it is to provide the methods of communication between the different forces of an army. 2005 Aiken (S. Carolina) Standard 12 May 1/1 (caption) A huge satellite dish used by the Signal Corps at Fort Gordon as part of a communications network. signal crayfish n. [after Swedish signalkräfta (1965 or earlier)] a freshwater crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus (family Astacidae), with a bright patch on the underside of each claw, native to the western United States and introduced in Europe and Japan, where it now threatens native wildlife. ΚΠ 1982 Ambio 11 362/3 Signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) from the United States have been introduced to Swedish waters and have partially compensated for the native populations lost to the plague. 2010 Westmorland Gaz. (Nexis) 13 Apr. Native crayfish have come under threat from signal crayfish, who out compete them for food and habitat and spread crayfish plague. signal detection n. the detection of signals; (Psychology) the discerning or recognition of a stimulus by an observer in the context of distractions or uncertainty. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > psychology of cognition > [noun] > detection of signals signal detection1922 1922 J. H. Morecroft in E. Hausmann et al. Radio Phone Receiving iv. 102 When using a grid condenser, a signal always produces a decrease in the average value of the plate current... The certainty of signal detection is greater than if no condenser is used. 1954 Psychol. Rev. 61 409/2 The mathematical model of signal detection is applicable to problems of visual detection. 1981 B. Picinbono in L. Bjørnø Underwater Acoustics & Signal Processing iii. 356 The simplest problem of signal detection is the detection of a deterministic and localized signal in a noise with known statistical properties. 2006 S. J. Guastello Human Factors Engin. & Ergonomics iii. 29 Signal detection theory was developed to address artifacts in the classical psychophysics experiments. signal generator n. Electronics an instrument or apparatus that generates electrical signals; spec. one for generating modulated or unmodulated electrical waveforms of known amplitude and frequency for use in adjusting and testing electronic equipment. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > [noun] > device generating signal signal generator1894 staircase generator1956 1881 U.S. Patent 240,853 2/2 In telephone toll systems, the combination..of an electrical-signal generator, a locked calling-switch, and an unlocked switch.] 1894 U.S. Patent 512,399 2/1 The subscriber..who initiated the connection, by rotating his signal generator a² transmits a signaling current over the line b to the central office. 1929 K. Henney Princ. Radio xv. 376 The circuit diagram is that of the General Radio Signal Generator, a device which consists of a radio-frequency oscillator, a means of measuring and controlling its output, and a means of using any desired part of this output. 2002 Sound & Vision May 85/1 Using a test DVD or a signal generator, he will bring up a ‘window’ pattern—a gray rectangle in the center of the screen on a black background. signal intelligence n. = signals intelligence n.; cf. SIGINT n. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > electronic espionage > [noun] signal intelligence1958 Watergating1972 1958 Guardian 22 May 3/1 Thompson and Miller trained for ‘a specialised and secret duty in Signal Intelligence’, Mr Jones continued. 1972 New Scientist 2 Mar. 466/1 The generic term for the business today is Signal Intelligence (Sigint). 2004 O. Tunander Secret War against Sweden i. 11 Swedish Defence Staff presented..statements about signal intelligence and tape-recorded propeller sounds. signal light n. a light used for signalling, as on board a ship, on a railway, fitted to motor vehicles, etc. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > parts and equipment of vehicles generally > [noun] > lights and reflectors signal light1743 tail-light1844 headlight1845 headlamp1851 tail-lamp1891 reflector1909 spotlight1916 fogs1974 1743 London Mag. June 188 Each respective Transport was to shew a Signal Light at Midnight. 1804 Ld. Nelson Let. 23 Feb. in Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. Add. p. ccxix It is recommended..to be careful that the Signal-lights for knowing each other are clear. 1936 Discovery Sept. 289/2 Motor-car headlights, signal lights and searchlights. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July 8- a/6 The Utah Highway Patrol requested drivers to stay off the roads as signal lights were off through much of the state. 2004 A. Furst Dark Voy. (2005) 60 The planning said three hours, then they would return to the shore and show a signal light. signal line n. any of various types of cable, wire, etc., by which a signal is sent; (Diving) = lifeline n. 2b. ΚΠ 1832 Waldie's Select Circulating Libr. 4 Apr. 14 Heans at first had his foot entangled in the signal-line, but quickly released it; and notwithstanding this detention,..he rose very rapidly, and was first to reach the surface. 1853 Mechanics' Mag. 26 Mar. 245/2 The signal-line..be carried along the carriages,..and to be attached to the lever of the bell. 1908 B. Cunningham Treat. on Princ. & Pract. Harbour Engin. iii. 58 The minimum number of attendants required for a single diver is three—one for the signal line and air-pipe, and two to work the pump. 1967 T. Lewis & L. R. Taylor Introd. Exper. Ecol. iv. 134 Orb-spinners..make a characteristic web in which there is a radius devoid of spiral threads, with a signal line in the middle of this region leading from the centre of the web to the spider's retreat. 1986 W. L. Schweber Integrated Circuits for Computers ii. 25 Any electronic system has some small unwanted signals called electrical noise added to the signal lines. 2005 Halifax (Nova Scotia) Daily News (Nexis) 5 Sept. 4 A Dutch dive supervisor who can tell what his charges are doing 50 metres below by their gentle tugs on a signal line. signal molecule n. any extracellular or intracellular molecule (e.g. a hormone, neurotransmitter, second messenger, etc.), released in response to a stimulus that promotes a particular reaction in a cell, or behaviour in an organism; esp. such a molecule involved in cell-to-cell communication. ΚΠ 1966 Jrnl. Insect Physiol. 12 427 An electron-rich group (oxygen) appears to be an essential part of the signal molecule [of an alarm pheremone]. 1986 Guardian (Nexis) 25 Apr. As the hormone [sc. abscisic acid] acts as a signal molecule in plants,..it seems reasonable to expect that it also acts as a signal molecule in the brain. 2006 J. A. Feldman From Molecule to Metaphor ii. 19 The emission and subsequent recognition of a signal molecule is the simplest form of communication among living things. signal/noise ratio n. = signal-to-noise ratio n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > noise or interference > signal-to-noise ratio signal/noise ratio1923 signal-to-noise ratio1923 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > unwanted part of signal > signal or noise ratio signal/noise ratio1923 signal-to-noise ratio1923 1923 Sci. Abstr. B. 26 556 Methods have been developed for measuring the strength of received signals and also the signal noise ratio. 1989 P. Horowitz & W. Hill Art of Electronics (ed. 2) xi. 774/2 A signal averager..is an instrument used to improve the signal quality (signal/noise ratio) of a periodic analog input signal that is unavoidably combined with nonperiodic noise. 2010 D. Stephens & S. Kramer Living with Hearing Diffic. xi. 173 The principle of both approaches is to make the signal louder and improve the signal/noise ratio, particularly in noisy places. signal pad n. a pad of paper on which messages are written down before being sent as signals, or on which signals received are recorded. ΚΠ 1906 Times 17 Aug. 6/3 He took some bearings..on a signal pad. 1975 T. Allbeury Palomino Blonde x. 63 The Morse came and he was getting it down on his signal pad. 2009 W. Smith Assegai 316 He remembered the signal pad in the locker beside him. signal peptide n. Molecular Biology a short discrete amino acid sequence which occurs (usually at the amino terminus) in many newly synthesized proteins and acts to direct their movement to specific locations within the cell, typically being cleaved from the mature protein. ΚΠ 1975 Jrnl. Cell Biol. 67 848 (caption) Endoproteolytic removal of the signal sequence before chain completion is indicated by the presence of signal peptides..within the intracisternal space. 2004 Protein Sci. 13 2819 A number of computational tools are available for detecting signal peptides, but their abilities to locate the signal peptide cleavage sites vary significantly. signal plate n. (a) a plate (plate n. 8a) that is used to give a signal or that serves as a signal, esp. to road or rail traffic; (b) (in some types of television camera tube) a plate electrode whose capacitance relative to an adjacent photoelectric surface is used to provide the picture signal. ΚΠ 1846 24th Rep. State Prisons of Ireland 22 in Parl. Papers XX. The cells will afford separate accommodation for 61 additional prisoners. They are..to have water-closets, signal plates, &c. 1920 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 23 Nov. 605/2 A traffic signal including a tower having a pair of oppositely disposed signal plates mounted to move thereabout. 1934 V. K. Zworykin in Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 217 10 Consider the circuit of a single photo~electric element in the mosaic... Here P represents such an element, and C its capacity to a plate common to all the elements, which hereafter will be called the ‘signal plate’. 1975 K. Wicks Television 19 After striking the signal plate, the electron beam returns along the tube, attracted by the positive charge on a series of five electrodes. 2005 S. Hall Mod. Signalling Handbk. (rev. ed.) 51 (caption) Intermediate Block Signal Plate. signal reaction n. Psychology an immediate, non-rational, conditioned response to a stimulus or a symbol. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > semantics > types of semantic change > [noun] usurpation1644 amelioration1871 pejoration1889 adequation1931 permutation1931 melioration1939 loan-shift1950 signal reaction1976 1915 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 26 348 He was conscious of the longer duration of the activities preceding the signal reaction. 1976 N. Postman Crazy Talk 195 A signal reaction is what happens when words have lost their referential or symbolic aspect and instead assume the character of religious icons. 2007 K. Albrecht Pract. Intelligence xi. 312 It's as if the thalamus, the information gateway to your cortex, gets hijacked by the over-reactive amygdala. That is what we refer to as the signal reaction. signal red n. and adj. (a) n. a bright red colour, vermilion; (b) adj. of this colour. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > bright red or scarlet cockea1382 coccyn1382 coctin1382 vermiliona1400 scarlet-redc1405 sinoper1412 scarletc1440 sinople?c1450 vermeletc1530 lusty gallant1587 vermeil1590 vermeil red1590 minium1601 cinnabar?1614 cochineal1632 poppy red1679 poppy colour1705 cherry-colour1720 ponceau1782 Turkey red1789 pinkc1791 coquelicot1795 poppy1796 cherry-red1802 vermilion-red1815 cardinal scarlet1828 geranium1842 dahlia1846 cardinal red1850 cerise1858 cardinal1874 scarlet-crimson1882 vermilion-scarlet1882 pillar box1894 Turkish red1900 signal red1909 fuchsia1923 1909 Times 3 Dec. 12/5 Mr. Trattles would never see red as red; he would see ‘signal red’ as green. 1936 Times Educ. Suppl. 21 Nov. p. iv/1 Gules..is not included in the range, but signal-red, similar but not quite so yellow, takes its place. 2006 Blueprint July 46 I spy..the dazzling signal-red body of a 300SL Gullwing. signal sequence n. Molecular Biology = signal peptide n. ΚΠ 1970 BioScience 20 1292/2 Additional manipulations will undoubtedly make it possible to identify and synthesize such signal sequences. 2003 L. Moss What Genes can't Do iii. 82 For protein synthesis to resume the signal sequence must become associated with the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum. signal service n. = signal corps n. ΚΠ 1863 A. J. Myer Let. 26 Oct. in Lett. Secretary of Treasury Estimates Additional Appropriations i. 186 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (1864) (38th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Ex. Doc. No. 2) VI I have the honor to transmit herewith an estimate of funds that will be required for the signal service of the army during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865. 1875 Amer. Naturalist 9 320 The Signal Service office at Washington, is to publish in its weather reports [etc.]. 1895 Outing 26 399 A new equipment for the Signal Service, the captive balloon. 2000 S. Gilbert Tattoo Hist. xix. 177 Edward W. Nelson, a naturalist working for the U.S. Army Signal Service in the late 19th century, also suggested that these circular tattoos were a relic of wearing a lip-plug or labret. signals intelligence n. Military information derived from the monitoring, interception, and interpretation of radio signals and similar transmissions (cf. SIGINT n.). ΘΚΠ society > communication > information > [noun] > obtained by monitoring signals intelligence1944 SIGINT1969 1944 Times 8 Dec. 7/5 He was..responsible for handling signals intelligence matters. 1976 Time Out 21 May 8/2 Each country's signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency has authority to monitor communications in one area. 2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 25/3 It's not always possible to rely on hard information from signals intelligence. signal station n. a tower or other building from which signals are sent and received; also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > radio equipment > [noun] > radio station signal station1803 wireless station1899 radio station1910 daytimer1940 society > communication > indication > signalling > visual signalling > luminous signals > [noun] > fire signal > signal station or watch-tower firehouse1450 beacon1611 signal station1803 1803 Times 14 Oct. 2/2 The most positive directions are issued that no Officer be absent, on any pretence, from..the Signal Station under his direction. 1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xxv. 332 Under his steady gaze the blood rose slowly to its old signal-station on her cheeks. 1918 M. Berger & M. Berger Secret of Marne ii. i. 102 At this moment a rocket went up from the crest of the hillock which supported the signal-station. 2003 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 6 Sept. 9 He wanted the signal station, which was built about 1911, to become a historic site in its own right. signal strength n. the amplitude or power of a signal, esp. of a broadcast signal as it reaches a given location or is received by a given aerial. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > strength of signal strength1912 strength1917 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > power of signal strength1912 1912 Marconigraph 2 269/2 Observations..showed that during totality the signal strength was increased. 1923 E. W. Marchant Radio Telegr. & Teleph. xi. 117 It is unlikely that we shall ever be able to forecast ‘signal strength’ with any greater certainty than we can forecast the weather that we are likely to have on any particular day. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) I. 445/2 Use of small loops concealed within the set is a standard practice for broadcast receivers in areas where signal strength is high. 2008 New Yorker 10 Mar. 86/1 The WiFi Detector Shirt is emblazoned with a diagram whose signal-strength bars light up when you're near a hotspot. signal strip n. (a) chiefly Military a strip of material that can be laid out on the ground in various patterns to form symbols for the purpose of communicating information to aircraft (now rare); (b) Electronics a strip-shaped conductor or detector. ΚΠ 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 261 The whole party circles round the aerodrome until the signal strips for ‘Carry on’ are laid out on the ground. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 87 He reached the aerodrome and saw the ground signal-strip laid out on it;..not until he saw the other aeroplanes on the ground or landing or coming into land did he recognise it to be the peremptory emergency signal to all aircraft to come down. 1961 Sci. News Let. 8 July 30/3 A color-image producer is controlled by ‘signal strips’ that distribute the time a radiating or electron beam rests on colored phosphors. 2001 Nucl. Instruments & Methods Physics Res. A. 466 383 One wafer has 480 signalstrips, which are parallel to one of the tilted sides, and signals are read out by four helix chips. signal-to-noise n. = signal-to-noise ratio n. ΚΠ 1947 U.S. Patent 2,432,134 5 To obtain high gain and also signal-to-noise improvement, it is desirable to use a large number of antennas. 1973 Gramophone Jan. 1349 (advt.) The most advanced stereo cassette deck you can buy..signal-to-noise better than 58 dB. 1993 Sound & Vision Apr. 9 (advt.) Denon AVR Receivers deliver audiophile signal quality (wide dynamic range, high signal-to-noise). signal-to-noise ratio n. (a) the ratio of the strength of a desired signal to that of unwanted noise or interference; (b) colloquial (chiefly Computing) a measure of how much useful information there is in a system, such as the internet, as a proportion of the entire contents.The signal-to-noise ratio of an electrical signal is typically expressed in decibels. ΘΚΠ society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > noise or interference > signal-to-noise ratio signal/noise ratio1923 signal-to-noise ratio1923 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > signal > [noun] > unwanted part of signal > signal or noise ratio signal/noise ratio1923 signal-to-noise ratio1923 1923 Bell Syst. Tech. Jrnl. 2 139 The signal to noise ratio reaches its minimum during the time when the sunset period intervenes between London and New York. 1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 239 The overall quantum efficiency..is only limited by the necessity to achieve a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio in the emulsion. 1994 AUUGN Apr. 72/2 There is a very active mailing list which has an excellent signal-to-noise ratio and carries lots of good info. 2005 Digital Photographer No. 31. 94/2 This results in an improved signal-to-noise ratio, more consistent colour reproduction [etc.]. 2008 Jason Kelly (Nexis) 10 Nov. Most internet databases are not worth your time. The data is often wrong,..creating a low signal-to-noise ratio. signal transduction n. (a) = transduction n. 2; (b) Cell Biology the processes by which activation of a receptor on the outer surface of the cell membrane results in a response within the cell. ΚΠ 1958 J. G. Truxal in IRE Trans. Educ. 1 68/1 This approach we would term the signal transduction interpretation, since it emphasizes amplification and/or modification of signals by electromechanical devices. 1965 Q. Rev. Biol. 40 419/1 Instrument systems are analyzed from a functional point of view and typical operations such as signal transduction, amplification, and display are discussed. 1976 M. F. La Via et al. in V. P. Eijsvoogel et al. Leukocyte Membrane Determinants 73 This suggests that membrane changes beyond ligand-receptor complex redistribution are necessary for signal transduction. 1997 Independent on Sunday 20 July (Review Suppl.) 40/3 Signal transduction is the process by which a ‘signal’ in the blood..makes itself known to a cell and prompts a response in the body. 2003 J. R. Cooper et al. Biochem. Basis Neuropharmacol. (ed. 8) iv. 76 Currently, there are four major groups of receptors known to be involved in signal transduction, of which the first two are neurotransmitter-activated. signal word n. a word used as a signal; spec. a word printed on the packaging of a hazardous material to indicate the degree of toxicity. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > word > [noun] > other specific types of word hard word1533 household word1574 magic word1581 grandam words1598 signal word1645 book worda1670 wordie1718 my whole1777 foundling1827–38 keyword1827 Mesopotamia1827 thought-word1844 word-symbol1852 nursery word1853 pivot word1865 rattler1865 object word1876 pillow word1877 nonce-word1884 non-word1893 fossil1901 blessed word1910 bogy-word1919 catch-all1922 pseudo-word1929 false friend1931 plus word1939 descriptor1946 meta-word1952 discourse marker1967 shrub2008 society > communication > indication > signalling > [noun] > signal > as agreed for concerted action signal?1576 signal word1645 1645 J. Maynard Serm. to House of Commons 16 The signall word agreed upon was Repete, strike again. 1718 N. Amhurst Protestant Popery ii. 25 Unnumber'd Chieftains, at the Signal Word, Will shine in Armour, and unsheath the Sword. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles vi. xxx. 264 When mute Amadine they heard, Give to their zeal his signal-word. 1908 C. E. Seashore Elem. Exper. Psychol. xvi. 212 The signal shall be a word, and the response shall be..spoken only as soon as the signal-word has been ‘cognized’. 1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts lxiv. 744/2 Under the FHSA, the label must use the signal word ‘Danger’ on substances that are extremely flammable, corrosive, or highly toxic. 2007 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. (Nexis) 6 Jan. b3 All toxic products must carry signal words alerting consumers to their danger. Derivatives ˈsignal-like adj. ΚΠ 1848 Christian Remembrancer Oct. 382 There is a quiet, but mysterious grandeur, in the signal-like warnings of Stromboli. 1935 Amer. Speech 10 250/1 The result obtained..are functionally independent groups of sounds, each of the groups reflecting one of the basic, signal-like values in the given language. 2008 S. D. Zohn Music for Mixed Taste ii. 95 The concluding ‘retraite’ of the courtiers, imbued with signal-like figures in Telemann's movement, parallels the earlier retreat of the hunting party. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). signaladj. Brit. /ˈsɪɡnl/, U.S. /ˈsɪɡn(ə)l/ Forms: 1500s–1600s signall, 1600s– signal. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French signalé ; signal n. Etymology: Originally (in sense 1) irregularly < Middle French signalé notable, remarkable (1557 with reference to a thing, 1569 with reference to a person) < Italian segnalato (a1375) < segnale signal n. + -ato -ate suffix¹. (Middle French seignaller , Middle French, French signaler and Italian segnalare are both first attested later than signalé and segnalato : see signal v.). In senses 2 and 3 independently < signal n. 1. Notable, conspicuous; remarkable, striking. a. Of an event, action, or quality. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > state of being noteworthy or remarkable > [adjective] specialc1325 notablec1390 oddc1400 notary1421 insignec1465 rial1487 noteworthy1552 signal1591 signal1591 remarkable1593 of note1596 memorated1631 distinguishable1720 nameable1780 markworthy1799 mad1941 pipperoo1945 ring-a-ding1960 pass-remarkable1974 1591 G. B. A. F. tr. Discouery Subtiltie & Wisedome Italians xxxvii. 57 Now what nation hath that been..which hath done God so signall a peece of seruice. Surely it was England. 1627 W. Duncomb tr. V. d'Audiguier Tragi-comicall Hist. our Times 15 To render you more signal offices, which, with time, I hope to performe. 1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. iv. §8 The extraordinary Prophets whom God did call out on some more signal occasions. 1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 62 Those that are in any Signal Danger. 1772 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) II. 195 The Israelites gained a most signal victory. 1839 G. P. R. James Louis XIV IV. 393 But the same French general suffered a signal reverse..in the following year. 1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. 1 It was a signal proof of the wisdom of the English legislators. 1903 A. D. Hall Soil vii. 169 Inoculation with soil from a field which has previously grown the crop..has often proved a signal success in reclaiming the poor heath lands of East Prussia. 2000 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 23 Jan. 26/2 This gathering of data is a signal achievement. b. Of a person. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > worthy of notice specialc1405 eminentc1420 markablec1449 noteworthy1552 regardable1572 respectable1584 of —— observation1587 considerable1589 of (great, little, etc.) mark1590 signal1591 remarkable1593 conspicuous1604 noble1604 observative1608 observable1609 significant1642 noteful1644 signalized1652 tall1655 curious1682 notice-worthy1713 unco1724 noticeable1793 handsome1813 epoch-forming1816 measurable1839 epochal1857 epoch-making1863 era-making1894 epoch-marking1895 high profile1950 landmark1959 the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > state of being noteworthy or remarkable > [adjective] specialc1325 notablec1390 oddc1400 notary1421 insignec1465 rial1487 noteworthy1552 signal1591 signal1591 remarkable1593 of note1596 memorated1631 distinguishable1720 nameable1780 markworthy1799 mad1941 pipperoo1945 ring-a-ding1960 pass-remarkable1974 society > communication > manifestation > manifestness > [adjective] > strikingly notablea1398 staring?a1425 loud1535 gross1581 strong1583 signal1591 conspicuous1604 marked1620 remarked1623 ranka1640 signalized1652 bold1678 flaming1706 glaring1706 telegraphic1809 salient1841 howling1865 insistent1868 rampageous1889 1591 G. B. A. F. tr. Discouery Subtiltie & Wisedome Italians xxxvii. 58 The most signall persecuters of Iesus Christ..haue cast such cloudes ouer the eyes & iudgement of other peoples. 1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 23 Two great and signall Historians give in evidence against him [etc.]. 1698 G. Sikes Wakening Call xiii. 102 Spiritually enlighten'd Men..will, at length, depart from them, and become their most signal Antichristian Enemies. 1702 Eng. Theophrastus 16 It is very easie to decide which of these impertinents is the most signal. c1780 H. Walpole Last Jrnls. (1910) II. 36 The signal criminal [sc. William Dodd] suffered decently. 1805 J. Foster Essays I. ii. v. 178 Signal villains of every class. 1886 H. James Bostonians (1966) iii. 17 What Basil Ransom actually perceived was that Miss Chancellor was a signal old maid. 1903 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 24 75 The saint who smote the dragon was..a signal hero. 2000 I. Carr et al. Jazz (ed. 2) 297/2 Non-stop improvising excitement from a signal player of the current free-music generation. †2. That constitutes or serves as a sign or symbol; symbolic. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > [adjective] significatory1579 betokening1587 significative1597 signal1605 telltale1832 1605 G. Buck Daphnis Polystephanos sig. D4^v Lillis, Chardons, and sweets of Erycine..be the signall floures, Symboles of beautie, power, and grace diuine. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 2 The signall Oak which the Druides made choice of, was such a one, on which Misletoe did grow; by which privie token, they conceived, God marked it out, as of soveraigne vertue, for his service. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma vii. 244 Long before his signal Crucifixion Jesus had died, by taking up daily that cross which his disciples..were to take up also. 3. That serves to identify or distinguish; distinctive, characteristic. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > that which identifies or distinguishes > [adjective] > serving to distinguish signal1652 1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 84 Badges or signal Ornaments of the Proconsul of Asia. a1663 R. Sanderson Cases Conscience (1678) 190 The signal note of the Godly party. 1714 M. Woodford Serm. Murder Richard Dobell 15 The Great King..would not be at rest, 'till he had mark'd the Transgressor with a Signal Brand of his Displeasure. a1785 R. Glover Athenaid (1787) I. iii. 73 I never can forget That signal mark, coeval with his birth, Distinguishing thy brother. a1803 J. Walker Ess. Nat. Hist. & Rural Econ. (1808) vi. 317 It is often delivered as a signal property of marle to dissolve in water, but with great inaccuracy. 1869 M. Arnold Culture & Anarchy i. 42 Culture is the eternal opponent of the two things which are the signal marks of Jacobinisim,—its fierceness, and its addiction to an abstract system. 1908 Independent (N.Y.) 20 Feb. 423/2 The doggerel conversation of young people..is the signal sound of the spring wind of love. 1991 K. Hafner & J. Markoff Cyberpunk 333 They were disappointed to see the witnesses weren't wearing pocket protectors, which they believed to be a computer nerd's signal appurtenance. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022). signalv. Brit. /ˈsɪɡnl/, U.S. /ˈsɪɡn(ə)l/ Inflections: Present participle signalling, (chiefly U.S.) signaling; past tense and past participle signalled, (chiefly U.S.) signaled; Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: signal n. Etymology: < signal n. Compare French signaler (1572 in Middle French as seignaller ), Old Occitan senhalar , Catalan senyalar (1298), Spanish señalar (13th cent.), Portuguese (now rare) sinalar (13th cent.; the more usual verb is the prefixed assinalar (1279 as †asinalar )), Italian segnalare (a1566; a1580 in sense ‘to distinguish oneself’, used reflexively). Compare earlier signalize v. 1. a. transitive. To communicate or make known (a fact, event, message, etc.) by a signal or signals. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > signal (something) [verb (transitive)] whease1602 signal1800 telegraph1806 semaphore1838 message1886 1800 W. F. Mavor Brit. Tourists IV. 299 The hour of eight was signalled by the great gun of the ship. 1836 T. Campbell Lett. from South xix. 233 The highest marine authority at Algiers signalled a command to them to run in upon the sands. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 233 Soon as on home's fair hills thine eyes shall signal a welcome. 1921 Business Jan. 27 (advt.) Should a fire break out the Autocall gives the alarm and then signals the location of the blaze. 1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. i. 34/3 There is no talk here of the eager anticipation of bells signaling the end of class. 1999 I. Rankin Dead Souls xxxiii. 258 The daily siren signalling the change of shifts had been silenced. b. transitive. To be a sign or signal of; to indicate (a fact, quality, future occurrence, etc.), esp. by implication or suggestion. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > [verb (transitive)] tokenc888 sayOE tellc1175 note?c1225 signifyc1275 notifyc1390 signc1390 ossc1400 testify1445 point1477 betoken1486 indike?1541 demonstrate1558 to give show of1567 argue1585 portend1590 speak1594 denotate1597 denote1597 evidence1610 instance1616 bespeak1629 resent1638 indict1653 notificate1653 indicate1706 exhibit1799 to body forth1821 signalize1825 to speak for ——1832 index1862 signal1866 1866 L. J. Trotter Hist. Brit. Empire India I. iii. 253 That which at first was by some mistaken for a meteor, was soon known to have signalled a horrible disaster involving the loss of much property. 1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma viii. 268 Signalling and extolling that character in Christianity into which fineness of perception enters most. 1934 Z. Grey Code of West xii. 224 This Christmas signaled the one great event in his life, for weal or woe, and he was celebrating it. 1978 Times 24 Apr. 2/1 The government seemed yesterday to be signalling its willingness to concede a reduction in the highest rates of income tax. 2006 Financial Times (Nexis) 21 Mar. 25 Sales of new applications software were stronger than most analysts had expected, signalling a return to underlying growth. 2. a. transitive. To instruct or direct (someone) to do something by means of gestures or signs; to make a signal to (a person, a ship, etc.). Frequently with infinitive. Also intransitive with for indicating the person directed and infinitive. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > signal (something) [verb (transitive)] > signal to (a person) signal1805 telegraph1808 signalize1874 1805 in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VI. 463 The Captain of the Ship was signalled on board the Victory. 1863 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 252/1 A porter immediately signalled him to get down. 1897 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin xii. iii The girl came out, and signalling me to enter, went leisurely down-stairs. 1908 H. W. Lucy Memories Eight Parl. i. 58 Disraeli signalled him with friendly nod. 1944 C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xiv. 120 The pilot was signalling for me to sit by him. 1961 J. Carew Last Barbarian 213 Tiberio signalled the barman to give him a drink. 1997 Mail on Sunday 10 Aug. (You Mag.) 32/4 An apparition appeared at the foot of my bed and signalled me to come with her. b. intransitive. To convey information or instructions by means of a gesture, action, or sound; to make a signal. Also with to indicating the recipient. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > make signals [verb (intransitive)] fugle1837 signalize1838 signal1845 1845 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 7 June 354/1 Hoping to put the novice in a similar difficulty, he began signalling in return as fast as he—an experienced signaller—was able. 1864 J. K. Hosmer Color-guard 76 They are signalling night and day..by flag and fire. 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship Eng. 199 The Officiator,..signalling to the Penitents, should begin the Antiphon. 1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xix. 207 We have arranged a way to signal with our candles and cardboard. 1962 P. Mortimer Pumpkin Eater xiii. 88 With his free hand, Conway signalled to her. 1998 S. Faulks Charlotte Gray iv. vi. 471 She signalled cheerily to Charlotte from the barrier. 3. transitive. To equip (a railway) with signalling apparatus. Also: to operate the signals on (a railway). Usually in passive. ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > [verb (transitive)] > direct or manage a railway engine > specific operations work1835 shunt1845 flag1856 slip1866 whistle1869 sidetrack1872 signal1888 switch1891 target1893 highball1905 plunge1923 1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Jan. 2/1 This line was a part of the London and Greenwich Railway, and was..maintained and signalled by us. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 19 June 10/2 Some portions of the principal railroads are fully signalled, but on many others hardly any signals are used. 1973 Financial Times 26 Mar. 20/3 The Picc-Vic tunnel is to be signalled to cope with trains at 90-second intervals. 1997 Mod. Railways July 424/1 The two present platform roads, signalled for bi-directional running, could handle high service frequencies. 4. Chiefly North American. Cf. signal n. 7c. a. transitive. Of a motorist, cyclist, or vehicle: to indicate an intention to make (a right or left turn) using an extended arm, flashing indicator, etc. ΚΠ 1931 Washington Post 16 Sept. 1 As she approached the intersection she swings over into the middle lane and extended her arm..signalling a left turn. 1968 Pop. Sci. June 190/1 You might accidentally turn off the headlights when intending to signal a right turn. 1996 Wilmington (N. Carolina) Star-News (Nexis) 1 Apr. 4 b The car signaled a left turn, and the Marine swerved into the southbound lane and was hit by a truck. 2004 K. Renge et al. in R. D. Huguenin Traffic & Transport Psychol. viii. 93 A bicyclist signals a turn with her left hand. b. intransitive. Of a motorist, cyclist, or vehicle: to indicate an intention to turn in a particular direction using an extended arm, flashing indicator, etc. Also with direction specified by adverbial complement. Cf. indicate v. Additions 5. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > driver or operator of vehicle > driver or operator of a vehicle [verb (intransitive)] > signal intent to change direction signal1940 indicate1970 1940 S. A. Clark East Coast of S. Amer. xiv. 143 A car directly in front of mine was signalling to turn off to the left. 1988 A. Tyler Breathing Lessons ii. 139 Ira signaled and made a U-turn. 1991 Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.) (Nexis) 5 Sept. d2 One [older driver] I encountered the other day signalled right and turned left. 2008 Compl. Guide to Public Safety Cycling (Internat. Police Mountain Bike Assoc.) (ed. 2) viii. 78/2 When there is a gap in traffic, they signal and move toward the centerline. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.a1393adj.1591v.1800
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signaln.

Phrases

Compounds

Derivatives

signaladj.

signalv.