sign language
nounDefinition of sign language
Examples of sign language in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Paige Powell’s first job was teaching chimpanzees sign language at what is now the Oregon Zoo. — Lane Florsheim, WSJ, "Photos: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and More in New Glimpse of ’80s New York," 16 Apr. 2019 In 2016, the mascot first broke his silence through sign language in celebration of National American Sign Language Day. — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, "Creepy Burger King mascot speaks his first word thanks to Budweiser. Asks "Whassup!?"," 27 June 2018 Verge Science visited Lorne at his lab in Rochester, New York, and got a firsthand look at some of the new science sign language in circulation. — William Poor, The Verge, "How deaf researchers are reinventing science communication," 11 Dec. 2018 She was taught sign language by Dr. Francine Patterson starting in 1974, The Associated Press reported. — Natalie Dreier, ajc, "Koko the gorilla who could sign, owned kitten, dies," 21 June 2018 These were the questions that inspired software developer Abhishek Singh to create a mod that lets Amazon’s Alexa assistant understand some simple sign language commands. — James Vincent, The Verge, "This Amazon Echo mod lets Alexa understand sign language," 24 July 2018 Koko, who was 46, developed a sign language vocabulary of more than 170 words by age 4 and more than 2,000 at the time of her passing. — Philip Potempa, Post-Tribune, "Mr. Rogers still a trusted name and neighbor to Northwest Indiana public TV," 27 June 2018 The child, who is deaf, doesn’t seem to be able to communicate and did not respond to a sign language interpreter, the Los Angeles Police Department said. — City News Service, latimes.com, "LAPD seeks public's help to identify boy found alone at Union Station," 5 July 2018 Now a professor in the Primate Behavior and Ecology Program at Central Washington University, Jensvold has worked with chimpanzees who communicate with sign language since 1986. — Deborah Netburn, latimes.com, "What it's like to be interviewed for a job by Koko the gorilla: 'She had a lot to say'," 22 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sign language.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on sign language
What made you want to look up sign language? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!
-
- Which is a synonym of fuliginous?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
-
Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!
No tricks, just difficult words.
Take the quiz -
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?
Which word entered the English language first?
Take the quiz -
Spell It
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz -
Syn City
Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.
Play the game
Share sign language
Resources for sign language