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

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing teenager and an infant, both of whom were last seen Friday, May 9 in Pflugerville, authorities said. —Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 May 2025

Days after the killing, authorities issued an Amber Alert for Vanessa, whose missing person case remains posted on the websites of the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. —CBS News, 22 Apr. 2025

While at the trailer, an Amber Alert for the two victims came through the suspects' phones, spooking them. —Audrey Conklin, FOXNews.com, 8 May 2025

The missing person’s report triggered an Amber Alert and a large police search, prosecutors said. —Nicole Acosta, People.com, 6 May 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