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 …

—Herald News (Fall River, MA)

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

Clare, who has credit for 1,806 days behind bars since his arrested, admitted abducting the 3-year-old boy and the 16-year-old girl, who were the subject of an Amber Alert out of Tennessee before they were found. —City News Service, Oc Register, 28 Feb. 2026

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation had activated a Levi's Call, Georgia's Amber Alert system, for 9-month-old Rafael Aguilar Rubio on Thursday. —Cbs News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026

Phoenix police rescued a toddler who'd been taken from her home in the middle of the night, after bystanders saw an Amber Alert and reported seeing the missing girl, authorities said Wednesday. —David K. Li, NBC news, 25 Feb. 2026

Phoenix police found Kehlani unharmed and in good health, prompting the Amber Alert to be canceled. —Julie Mendes, AZCentral.com, 23 Feb. 2026

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