Amber Alert

noun

variants or less commonly Amber alert or amber alert

plural Amber Alerts also Amber alerts or amber alerts

US

: a widely publicized bulletin that alerts the public to a recently abducted or missing child

… State Police activated the Amber Alert in search of a male infant who they believed was kidnapped …

—Fall River (Massachusetts) News

State Police put out an Amber alert …

—Travis Andersen

… sends a text message … for emergency alerts (like hurricanes and amber alerts) …

—Greg Ganske

Amber Alerts are issued when a child under 18 is abducted and believed to be in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.

—Anthony Maenza

compare blue alert, silver alert

Examples of Amber Alert in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Police noted that no surveillance footage was available from the area and that an Amber Alert could not be issued because there was no description of a suspect or vehicle, per KTLA. —Jordana Comiter, People.com, 25 Aug. 2025

Authorities said there was no security footage in the area at the time of the incident and that an Amber Alert was not issued due to the lack of suspect or vehicle descriptions, which did not meet the criteria for activation. —Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2025

It’s been nearly two-and-a-half years since an Amber Alert was issued for Everman boy Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, but city officials and residents say the missing child isn’t forgotten. —Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Aug. 2025

The alert comes after a missing 9-year-old girl, Melina Frattolin, was found dead in a shallow pond in New York last month after an Amber Alert was issued. —Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the U.S. Justice Department AMBER Alert Program that issues such bulletins, originally from Amber Hagerman †1996 U.S. victim of an abduction, later read as an acronym for America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response

First Known Use

1997, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Amber alert

noun

: a widely publicized bulletin that alerts the public to a recently abducted or missing child

Legal Definition

Amber Alert

noun

: a widely publicized bulletin that alerts the public to a recently abducted or missing child

Etymology

from the U.S. Justice Dept. AMBER Alert Program that issues such bulletins, originally from Amber Hagerman †1996 victim of an abduction, later read as America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response