semaphore

1 of 2

noun

sem·​a·​phore ˈse-mə-ˌfȯr How to pronounce semaphore (audio)
1
: an apparatus for visual signaling (as by the position of one or more movable arms)
2
: a system of visual signaling by two flags held one in each hand

Illustration of semaphore

Illustration of semaphore
  • alphabet; 3 positions following Z

semaphore

2 of 2

verb

semaphored; semaphoring

transitive verb

: to convey (information) by or as if by semaphore

intransitive verb

: to send signals by or as if by semaphore

Examples of semaphore in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
With paint on fabric that is somewhere between a painting and semaphore, another theme is spelled out at the back of the room: tartan. Robert Sullivan, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2023 Telegraph Hill itself was named after the semaphore station built on top of it in 1850 to signal that ships had arrived. Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Feb. 2023 Her eyes blaze, her dancing reads as semaphore; a feeling of overkill, unsettling but necessary, pervades her every move. Dan Piepenbring, Harper’s Magazine , 18 Jan. 2022 It’s not a sentimental picture, but the gestures are intuitive, eloquent, easily read—an elemental semaphore of the human capacity to comfort. Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2021 The main difference with this method is how the semaphore is initialized. Jacek Krywko, Ars Technica, 2 Oct. 2020 Predictably, this area was a resource locked with a mutex semaphore. Jacek Krywko, Ars Technica, 2 Oct. 2020 The dollar, which has fallen by 6% against a basket of currencies since March, is usually part of the semaphore. The Economist, 11 June 2020 One dancer executed a series of semaphore-like movements, which the dancer on the next roof over tried to copy exactly, and so on down the line. Brian Seibert, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2020
Verb
All-white outfits might be all the rage with celebrities this summer, but Selena Gomez knows nothing semaphores Parisian chic quite like black. Kerry McDermott, Vogue, 21 June 2023 That’s a lot to semaphore in a look. Sarah Harris, Vogue, 26 May 2022 Poorly directed, singers semaphore conventional, unconvincing theatrical gestures that turn them right back into stock opera characters. Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2021 The movie needs Winslet and Ronan’s skills, their ability to semaphore more with sliding glances and tiny gestures than many actors manage with pages of dialogue. Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2020 One of the many things the halted meteorological data gathering couldn’t do on such occasions was release the mutex semaphore to the high-priority bus management task. Jacek Krywko, Ars Technica, 2 Oct. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'semaphore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French sémaphore, from Greek sêma "sign, signal" + -phoros -phore — more at semantic

Note: The French word flouts the rules of Greco-Latin word formation, according to which the correct outcome would be sématophore. The genesis of sémaphore is somewhat obscure. Early on the word is associated with an innovative system of optical telegraphy used for coastal communication, based on the inventions of Claude Chappe developed in France in the 1790's. This revised system, employing a mast with three movable arms, was the work of Charles Depillon (1768-1805), a retired artillery officer and farmer. It was described in the article "Nouveaux Télégraphes, á l'usage de la Marine, de l'Intérieur, et des Armées," Annales des Arts et Manufactures, vol. 4 (4 nivôse An IX [December 25, 1800], pp. 90-112). An offprint of this article is archived in the Service historique de la Marine in Vincennes, France, along with a letter written by Depillon dated June 11, 1801. (For this and other bibliographic details, see François Cabane, Charles Depillon (1768-1805), Inventeur des Sémaphores côtiers, Plouzané: Ifremer, 2007.) The word sémaphore is not used in the article, and apparently not in the letter, so that there is no strong indication that it was coined by Depillon. It is used in Signaux de la ligne sémaphorique établie sur les côtes de l'Océan et de la Méditerranée (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1806), an official description of the semaphore system published by order of the naval minister Denis Decrès. According to Cabane, the word sémaphores is written on the cover of the book as well as on the cover of the accompanying atlas.

Verb

derivative of semaphore entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1838, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of semaphore was in 1815

Dictionary Entries Near semaphore

Cite this Entry

“Semaphore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semaphore. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

semaphore

noun
sem·​a·​phore
ˈsem-ə-ˌfō(ə)r,
-ˌfȯ(ə)r
1
: a device for sending signals that can be seen by the receiver
2
: a system of sending signals with two flags held one in each hand
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