signal
any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,668 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 6,258 times across 191,625 chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message also: signaling, sign signals from the boat suddenly stopped
- any incitement to action he awaited the signal to startthe victory was a signal for wild celebration
- an electric quantity (voltage or current or field strength) whose modulation represents coded information about the source from which it comes
verb
- communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs also: sign, signalize, signalise He signed his disapproval with a dismissive hand gestureThe diner signaled the waiters to bring the menu
- be a signal for or a symptom of also: bespeak, betoken, indicate, point These symptoms indicate a serious illnessHer behavior points to a severe neurosis
adjective
- notably out of the ordinary the year saw one signal triumph for the Labour party
signal in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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I'll count three, and three is the signal.
The Land of the Changing Sun · Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben · Chapter 1
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Over the awful ocean Her signal guns pealed out.
Poems Every Child Should Know · Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth) [Editor] Burt · Chapter 1
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Over the awful ocean Her signal guns pealed out.
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems Part 6 From — Volume I · John Greenleaf Whittier · Chapter 1
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The signal!—it streams for the grand fleet to anchor.
John Marr and Other Poems · Herman Melville · Chapter 1
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Happy it was for us, when, upon the signal given, they ventured out their boats to save our lives.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures · Daniel Defoe · Chapter 1