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 issued Thursday for a missing 15-year-old girl from Tarrant County has been discontinued after the girl was found, officials said. —Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2025

Her daughter with Jose Morales, Vanessa Morales, 1, was nowhere to be found, prompting authorities to issue an Amber Alert for her and put her picture on billboards across Connecticut. —Kc Baker, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025

After the Amber Alert was issued, Budwah agreed to meet with officers at MGPD headquarters. —Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2025

An 8-year-old California girl has been found after she was abducted in Riverside County, around 100 miles east of Los Angeles, according to an Amber Alert issued by the state's Highway Patrol on behalf of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department (DHSPD). —Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 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