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Signal   Listen
adjective
Signal  adj.  
1.
Noticeable; distinguished from what is ordinary; eminent; remarkable; memorable; as, a signal exploit; a signal service; a signal act of benevolence. "As signal now in low, dejected state As erst in highest, behold him where he lies."
2.
Of or pertaining to signals, or the use of signals in conveying information; as, a signal flag or officer.
The signal service, a bureau of the government (in the United States connected with the War Department) organized to collect from the whole country simultaneous raports of local meteorological conditions, upon comparison of which at the central office, predictions concerning the weather are telegraphed to various sections, where they are made known by signals publicly displayed.
Signal station, the place where a signal is displayed; specifically, an observation office of the signal service.
Synonyms: Eminent; remarkable; memorable; extraordinary; notable; conspicuous.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Signal" Quotes from Famous Books



... tracing it through all the passengers, and descending to the very stokers and furnacemen, who emerged from below, one by one, and clustered together in a smoky group about the hatchway of the engine-room, comparing notes in whispers. After throwing up a few rockets and firing signal guns in the hope of being hailed from the land, or at least of seeing a light - but without any other sight or sound presenting itself - it was determined to send a boat on shore. It was amusing to observe how very kind some of the passengers were, in volunteering ...
— American Notes for General Circulation • Charles Dickens

... Monroe. She saw Kenneth McVeigh speaking to his mother and glancing around inquiringly; was he looking for her? She realized that her moments alone now would be brief, and she moved swiftly under the trees to where the signal had been made. A man had been lying there flat to the ground. He arose as she approached, and she saw he was dressed in Confederate uniform, and that he wore no ...
— The Bondwoman • Marah Ellis Ryan

... drifting slowly down towards her. Now she rises, now she falls in the trough of the sea, and is hid from view. She is a brig, as we discover by the stumps of her two masts, and we do not doubt the very vessel of which we have lately heard. A signal of distress is flying from a staff lashed to the main-mast; but, with the sea now running, what help can we ...
— The Cruise of the Mary Rose - Here and There in the Pacific • William H. G. Kingston

... boys knew it some of the glow of the burning match had been visible in the darkness out on the water, and this boat was coming in answer to a fancied signal. ...
— Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks - or, Two Recruits in the United States Army • H. Irving Hancock

... of the house. Throughout the affair he never uttered a syllable. Haines walked up to the head of the siding with him while he opened the switch and accompanied him back to the point opposite the station-house to see that he gave the "stop" signal correctly. In the meantime two of the other outlaws entered the little station, bound the telegrapher hand and foot, and shattered his instrument. That would prevent the sending of any call for help after the hold-up. Purvis and Jordan (since Terry ...
— The Untamed • Max Brand

... this too:— But hold, it is ingeniously done. Get to thy duties, sir, and mark me well, Let no word pass thy lips about the matter— [Exit Lorenzo. Bernardo's very hand indeed is here! Oh, compact villainous and black! conditions, The means, the hour, the signal—every thing To rob my honor of its holiest pearl! Lorenzo, shallow fool—he does not guess The mischief was all done, and that it was The duke he saw departing—oh, brain—brain! How shall I hold this river ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848 • Various

... were busy hanging the towel out of the window, signal to Daddy that tea was ready. But as Daddy was already coming down the street at a great pace, apparently excited too, they waved it instead. Rogers suddenly remembered that Jimbo that morning had asked him for a two-centime stamp. He made no remark, however, merely wondering ...
— A Prisoner in Fairyland • Algernon Blackwood

... meadow near by, with a grand old oak tree standing in the centre of it. The boys gathered round the tree, and stood, on opposite sides, each one with his back against the tree. At a given signal they were to start, and walk to the fence opposite to each of them; and then return to the tree, and see which ...
— The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young • Richard Newton

... the fourth incident, the attempted killing of the old father. Now, from some of the earliest accounts of travels in Britain, we know that the death of the aged by violence was a signal element of the native customs. "They die only when they have lived long enough; for when the aged men have made good cheere and anoynted their bodies with sweet ointments they leape off a certain rocke into the sea." That we have in this episode of the story, ...
— Folklore as an Historical Science • George Laurence Gomme

... were no signal systems of any kind. Had the mine been provided with electric signals and telephones, like some of the most modern mines in the United States, the majority of the men could have been saved, by getting into communication with the outside and working ...
— Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 • Herbert M. Wilson

... little at these reproaches. However, he replied, rather sullenly, that it was only for one night; they could signal the long-boat in the morning and get the other bags and the cask out of her. But Mr. Hazel was not to be appeased. "The morning! Why, she sails three feet to our two. How do you know he won't run away from us? I never expect to get within ...
— Foul Play • Charles Reade

... of the priest, some of De Monts' men returning to this Bay to examine the minerals more thoroughly, were attracted by a signal fluttering on the shore, and, hurrying to land, there found the poor priest, emaciated and exhausted. What strange sensations the distracted wanderer must have experienced in these forest wilds, with starvation staring him in the face! ...
— Over the Border: Acadia • Eliza Chase

... away. "And against mine, too, if you balk my wishes at every turn. But I will take you. It is the only chance you have, and if you are mad enough to refuse it, I must force it on you. Remember, I shall use force. Now stay by the window, and await my signal. I ...
— Montlivet • Alice Prescott Smith

... a signal, and all the nobles shouted as loud as they possibly could, but the seminary ...
— The Pot of Gold - And Other Stories • Mary E. Wilkins

... was exciting enough, and I caught something of the fever when twenty soldiers pushed my old rattle-trap into the roadway, and a very fine gentleman gave the signal to "Go." Upon my word, I do believe there was just a moment when I thought I could get to Vienna before the others; and, letting my clutch in gently, and telling Billy, my mechanician, to make himself fast, I soon had her upon third speed, and was racing ...
— The Man Who Drove the Car • Max Pemberton

... every soldier on the ground was looking so frightened that had the Colonel expected to detect the thief by his looks, he might have thought the whole regiment equally guilty. But his plan was far deeper than that. At his signal each man in turn drew a bamboo chip from the bag which the Colonel held; and when all were supplied, he ordered them to come forward one by one, and give back the chips which they ...
— Harper's Young People, March 23, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... the Judge, waxing eloquent, "put upon such a vice by a government are but its terms of partnership. Gradual suppression of a mighty evil is always a signal failure, and while we wait to prove these failures the enemy ...
— The Daughter of a Republican • Bernie Babcock

... have gotten those women?" Judith asked. The helio was slanting downward, and was now less than five miles distant from the fast vanishing bus. It began to skim the tree tops of a great tract of spruce, its chauffeur awaiting Mason's signal to drop quickly out of their quarry's line ...
— The Women-Stealers of Thrayx • Fox B. Holden

... the news quickly came to him, first of disorder in South Germany, then of the fall of the Ministry in Dresden and Munich; after a few days it was told that a revolution had taken place in Vienna itself. The rising in Austria was the signal for Berlin, and on the 18th of March the revolution broke out there also. The King had promised to grant a Constitution; a fierce fight had taken place in the streets of the city between the soldiers and the people; the King had surrendered to the mob, and had ordered the troops to withdraw from ...
— Bismarck and the Foundation of the German Empire • James Wycliffe Headlam

... of divining the color of the hair of one's future wife or husband, which is probably very old, yet survives in many places, but with interesting modifications as to the bird which gives the signal to try the divination. In Westphalia it is at sight of the first swallow that the peasant looks to see if there be a hair under his foot. According to Gay, in England ...
— Current Superstitions - Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk • Various

... drifted into the main current. Prebol, faint and weary with his exertions, fell upon his bunk. There in anguish, delirious at intervals, and weak with misery, he floated down reach, crossing, and bend, without light or signal. In olden days that would have been suicide. Now the river was deserted and no steamers passed him up or down. His cabin-boat, but a rectangular shade amidst the river shadows, drifted like a leaf or chip, with no sound except when a coiling jet from the bottom suckled ...
— The River Prophet • Raymond S. Spears

... like pods than flowers, growing on tall stems. I hate crushing down meadow-grass, but I could not resist my impulse of curiosity. I walked up to them, and just as I was going to bend down and look at them, lo and behold, all my flowers opened before my eyes as by a concerted signal, spread wings of the richest blue, and fluttered away before my eyes. They were nothing more than a company of butterflies who, tired of play, had fallen asleep together with closed ...
— The Altar Fire • Arthur Christopher Benson

... little quiet maneuvering and attendance to other matters the King left them side by side for a while. Troops stood massed in the distance waiting the signal ...
— King John of Jingalo - The Story of a Monarch in Difficulties • Laurence Housman

... with scaling-ladders, ropes and grappling-irons, surrounded the Quirinal. At half-past ten, the sentinel who kept guard on the tower of the Quirinal disappeared. The signal was immediately given. With varying success the small battalions introduced themselves into the palace. The Swiss guard was disarmed; it had for a long time previously received orders to make no resistance. ...
— Worlds Best Histories - France Vol 7 • M. Guizot and Madame Guizot De Witt

... to move the cases you will send men with them to make sure that they do not go to the river. If any attempt be made to send the cases away in small lots, so as to split your detachment, you will then signal the camp with the rockets that you have brought ...
— Uncle Sam's Boys as Lieutenants - or, Serving Old Glory as Line Officers • H. Irving Hancock

... province that your Majesty has always esteemed and esteems so highly. Thus, nominally by your royal authority, we have suffered great violence and scandals, and it is certain that had this occurred nearer to your Majesty's pious eyes, a most signal and exemplary chastisement would have followed. But in these so remote regions, where redress arrives late, it is usual, and almost necessary for us chaplains of your Majesty and the orders to suffer these extortions; ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624 • Various

... passed through the Gut, Nelson got his chance. A change of wind came within five hours after a southerly slant brought his ships to anchor in Gibraltar bay for water and provisions. He immediately gave the signal to heave the anchors up, and proceeded with a fair wind which lasted only forty-eight hours. He anchored his fleet to the east of Cape St. Vincent, and took on board supplies from the transports. He received from different sources conflicting accounts as to the objective of the French, but the ...
— Drake, Nelson and Napoleon • Walter Runciman

... The signal was repeated by the gipsy crew. We may here casually note, that the crew had been by no means uninterested or silent spectators of passing events, but had, on the contrary, indulged themselves in a variety of conjectures as to their probable issue. Several bets were ...
— Rookwood • William Harrison Ainsworth

... anchored. The lower gun-deck served as a second bottom; it was stowed with a very great weight equally fore and aft. To this, and to the uncommon strength of it, Captain Riou ascribes his safety. Seeing an English ship with a signal of distress, four of us went on board, scarcely hoping but with busy fancy still pointing her out to be the Guardian, and, to our inexpressible joy, we found it was her. We stood in silent admiration of her heroic commander (whose supposed fate had drawn tears from us before), ...
— "The Gallant, Good Riou", and Jack Renton - 1901 • Louis Becke

... disadvantages of various possible hunting grounds in my mind, my attention was caught by a kind of cough that seemed to proceed from the farther side of a large gardenia bush. It was not a human cough, but rather resembled that made by a certain small buck at night, probably to signal to its mate, which of course it could not be as there were no buck within several miles. Yet I knew it came from a human throat, for had I not heard it before in many an hour ...
— The Ivory Child • H. Rider Haggard

... when he screamed his Indian name, Pillillooeet, turned tail, and darted with ludicrous haste up the tree out of sight, his voice and actions in the case leaving a somewhat profane impression, as if he had said, "I'll be hanged if you get me to hear anything so solemn and unpiny." This acted as a signal for the general dispersal of the whole hairy tribe, though the birds seemed willing to wait further developments, music being naturally more ...
— The Mountains of California • John Muir

... beauty of Elise Durwent, which seemed to provoke the eye to admiration, yet fade into imperfection under a prolonged searching. Pyford grew sleepy, and even Smyth appeared a little melancholy, when, on a signal from Lady Durwent, brandy and liqueurs were served, checking Mr. Dunckley's oratory and reviving ...
— The Parts Men Play • Arthur Beverley Baxter

... Tooke's word is not worth much. He did not resign his living till more than seven years after he wrote to Wilkes:—'It is true I have suffered the infectious hand of a bishop to be waved over me; whose imposition, like the sop given to Judas, is only a signal for the devil to enter.' Stephens's Horne Tooke, i. 76. Beckford, dying in his Mayoralty, is oddly connected with Chatterton. 'Chatterton had written a political essay for The North Briton, which, though accepted, was not printed on account ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 3 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... Toryism were rallied against it, one member from Queens County, Mr. Thomas Gilbert, going so far as to apply to the advocacy of the old rotten system the soul-stirring words contained in Nelson's last signal at Trafalgar, "England expects that every man this day ...
— Wilmot and Tilley • James Hannay

... time! Filled with happiness the mucker ran to the point of the promontory and stripping off his shirt waved it high above his head, the while he shouted at the top of his lungs; but the vessels kept on their course, giving no answering signal. ...
— The Mucker • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... from ants, sickening resistances of mud and slime, evasions of slimy roots, dead weight of heat, sudden puffs of air, sudden starts from bird-calls in the contiguous forest - some mimicking my name, some laughter, some the signal of a whistle, and living over again at large the business of ...
— Vailima Letters • Robert Louis Stevenson

... an unseen signal and, with a unanimity which could be created only by a high moral inspiration, sang the Funeral March. He who lived through that moment will ...
— From October to Brest-Litovsk • Leon Trotzky

... for supper impatient, At the Eating-room door, for an hour had been station'd, Till a MAGPYE, at length, the banquet announcing, Gave the signal, long wish'd for, of clamouring and pouncing; At the well-furnish'd board all were eager to perch, But the little Miss CREEPERS ...
— The Peacock 'At Home:' - A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball • Catherine Ann Dorset

... child I had the signal honour of being seated upon the knee of an old lady whose great-great-great-great-uncle once shook hands with a man whose grandfather remembered seeing green fields at the spot which is now covered by Carmelite House. How short is the history ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, March 25, 1914 • Various

... intervals from one another; but the lower end, where the animals usually approached and went out, was left quite open. Von Bloom remained on the platform in the tree, so as to mark the approach of the quaggas, and give warning by a signal to the other three. The positions taken by these were such, that they could guide the herd in the direction of the pit, by merely coming out of the bushes where they lay concealed. In order that they should show themselves simultaneously, and at ...
— Popular Adventure Tales • Mayne Reid

... full view of the shore batteries she swung round and came slowly to a halt, a signal that she surrendered. It made the Americans give another cheer, and it must have made the Spaniards on shore ...
— A Prisoner of Morro - In the Hands of the Enemy • Upton Sinclair

... police. But I'd got on to the track of the jewels, and after removing them from the dressing-case in the cloak room I had the cloak room watched. When Dora Kemp called for the dressing-case and handed in the cloakroom ticket, the attendant gave my men the signal and ...
— The Hampstead Mystery • John R. Watson

... thirty years, I have noticed some interesting manifestations of the increased sympathy for wild creatures that steadily is growing in a large section of the public mind. Thirty years ago, the appearance of a deer or moose in the streets of any eastern village nearly always was in itself a signal for a grand chase of the unfortunate creature, and its speedy slaughter. Today, in the eastern states, the general feeling is quite different. The appearance of a deer in the Hudson River itself, or a moose in a Maine village is a signal, not for a wild chase and cruel slaughter, but for a general ...
— Our Vanishing Wild Life - Its Extermination and Preservation • William T. Hornaday

... while the Lady Sybilla had been standing motionless gazing out of the window. de Retz now motioned her away with an almost imperceptible signal of his hand, whereat Sir Alexander Livingston, seeing the girl about to leave the chamber of council, courteously rose to usher her out. And with the very slightest acknowledgment of his profound obeisance, Sybilla de Thouars went forth and left the four ...
— The Black Douglas • S. R. Crockett

... Johns, on which we again took our boat and merchandise and rowed to the shore. We actually found a town on the top of a hill to which we directed our course, and on seeing us a considerable number of the inhabitants collected together and waved a piece of cloth as a signal for us to come in, on which we rowed into an excellent bay to eastward of the cliff on which the town stands, and on getting fairly into the bay we let drop our grapnel. After remaining some time, a ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VII • Robert Kerr

... veered about the ruin and thundered on down to the foot of the hill, Jim Boone threw up his hand for a signal and brought his stallion to a halt on ...
— Riders of the Silences • John Frederick

... At her eager signal he ran forward with a light ladder, planted it against the window-sill, and in less than a minute the twain were running toward the beach; but the creak of the ladder had been heard, and grasping their muskets two of the men hurried out. In the track of the ...
— Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Complete • Charles M. Skinner

... to get a certain comfort from the rapid motion. She continued to stare out of the window at the landscape, which fast disappeared under the gathering shadows. The car lamps were lit. Maria still looked, however, out of the window; the lights in the house windows, and red and green signal-lights, gave her a childish interest. She forgot entirely about herself. She turned her back upon herself and her complex situation of life with infinite relief. She did not wonder what she would do when she reached Ridgewood. She did not think any more of herself. It was as ...
— By the Light of the Soul - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

... Minister called back to confirm that First Citizen Yaggo and King Ranulf would be at the luncheon. The Chamberlain, Count Gadvan, called with a long and dreary problem about the protocol for the banquet. Finally, at noon, he flashed a signal for General Dorflay, waited five minutes, and then left his desk and went out, to find the mad general and his wirehaired soldiers drawn up ...
— Ministry of Disturbance • Henry Beam Piper

... consists in this:—That he is the voice of that great Church reform which is the most signal fact in the history of the latter half of the tenth century. Of this reform, the first step was the restoration of the rule of Benedict in the religious houses. The great movement had begun in Gaul early in the ninth century, and its extension to our island could hardly be delayed when peaceful ...
— Anglo-Saxon Literature • John Earle

... the highest rank in that empire, such offices were looked upon as below my dignity, and the emperor (to do him justice), never once mentioned them to me. However, it was not long before I had an opportunity of doing his majesty, at least as I then thought, a most signal service. I was alarmed at midnight with the cries of many hundred people at my door; by which, being suddenly awaked, I was in some kind of terror. I heard the word Burglum repeated incessantly: several of the emperor's court, making their way through the crowd, entreated me to come ...
— Gulliver's Travels - into several remote nations of the world • Jonathan Swift

... or signal she! She's too far," and Toby pointed to a long black line of smoke rising above the rocks beyond Pinch-In Tickle, and more than ...
— Left on the Labrador - A Tale of Adventure Down North • Dillon Wallace

... already evening, but growing darker with the clouds that went on piling their purple masses and awaiting their signal. Suddenly the sweet, soft breeze trembled and veered, there was a brief calm, and the wind had hauled round the other way. A silence of preparation, answered by a long, low note of thunder, and the ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 96, October 1865 • Various

... It was the signal. It startlingly waked the dead city to discordant life. Groanings and howlings and clashings, as of Tophet, were echoed and re-echoed from every temple, every shrine; an orgy of demoniac sounds; blurred in transit through the empty rooms beneath; pierced at intervals by the ...
— Far to Seek - A Romance of England and India • Maud Diver

... dance the polonaise. The President comes forward; he lightly throws back the fausses manches of his overcoat, caresses his moustache, presents his hand to Sophia: and, by a respectful salute, invites her for the first couple. Behind them range themselves the other dancers, two and two; the signal is given, the dance is ...
— Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician - Volume 1-2, Complete • Frederick Niecks

... over our Heads, and our Trespasses are grown up unto the Heavens, they are many in number, and hainous in their nature, and grievously aggravated, as having been contrary to great Light and Love, under signal Mercies and Judgments, after Confession and Supplication, and notwithstanding of our Profession, Promises and solemn Vowing, and Covenanting with God ...
— The Acts Of The General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland

... overweening pride and egotism we have ELECTED to be such," replied Heliobas. "As angels have fallen, so have we. But we are not altogether castaways now, since this signal," and he touched the cross on his breast, "shone ...
— Ardath - The Story of a Dead Self • Marie Corelli

... Weasels in array; But in the hurry of the flight, What with their weakness and their fright Each scarce could get into his cave: Howe'er, at last their lives they save. But their commanders (who had tied Horns to their heads in martial pride, Which as a signal they design'd For non-commission'd mice to mind) Stick in the entrance as they go, And there are taken by the foe, Who, greedy of the victim, gluts With mouse-flesh his ungodly guts. Each great and national distress Must chiefly mighty ...
— The Fables of Phdrus - Literally translated into English prose with notes • Phaedrus

... minutes after ten o'clock when the first shot was fired. This shot was the signal for a broadside, and a shower of balls with three or four shells came screaming through the air striking the walls of the fort, or exploding over it. One of the shells buried itself in the sand but ...
— Sustained honor - The Age of Liberty Established • John R. Musick,

... this battle took place and gave the signal, too, for an effort to restore Poland. But Austria, Prussia, and Russia combined, and Poland was lost. Heroic children were made to pay for the sins of their fathers. Poland expired in 1795. Prussia took Eastern Poland, including Warsaw; Austria annexed Cracow, Sandomir, Lublin, and Selm, ...
— The Story of Russia • R. Van Bergen

... discussion might be similar to that in a jury. A much larger number would have made the discussion too formal or too unruly. The eighteen men sat around a long table and were first allowed to look for half a minute at the two big cards, each forming his judgment independently. Then at a signal every one had to write down whether the number of dots on the upper card was larger, equal, or smaller. Immediately after that they had to indicate by a show of hands how many had voted for each of the three possibilities. After that a discussion began. Indeed, the two cards offered ...
— Psychology and Social Sanity • Hugo Muensterberg

... planet is the call? From what one of the hundred million spheres? How many centuries has it been sent outward to the deaf, the dumb, and the blind? And what is the word? Is it Hail? Help? Hope?... Or is it an answer? An answer to some signal of mine? How shall I know?... ...
— The Flutter of the Goldleaf; and Other Plays • Olive Tilford Dargan and Frederick Peterson

... national history, and today Masonry is worth more for the sanctity and safety of this republic than both its army and its navy. At every turn of events, when the rights of man have been threatened by enemies obvious or insidious, it has stood guard—its altar lights like signal fires along the heights of liberty, keeping watch. Not only in our own land, but everywhere over the broad earth, when men have thrown off the yoke of tyranny, whether political or spiritual, and demanded the rights that belong to ...
— The Builders - A Story and Study of Masonry • Joseph Fort Newton

... like mules, they set out at midnight, and only went when it was perfectly dark. An excellent quick-scented dog always went some paces before the others, stretched out his nose towards all quarters, and when he scented custom-house officers, turned back, which was the signal for immediate flight. Concealed behind bushes, or in ditches, the dogs waited till all was safe, then proceeded on their journey, and reached at last beyond the frontier the dwelling-house of the receiver of the goods, who was in the secret. But here, also, the leading dog only ...
— A Hundred Anecdotes of Animals • Percy J. Billinghurst

... to those whether officially called, or who, pending the pleasure of mercantile circumstance, are publicly obliged to pursue abstruse mental occupation, necessitating labour and much concentration of though[t]. A reasonable use of this means, or instrument, of signal and alarm, must be conceded to those in whose hands resides its use, but at the same time a firm directorship or jurisdiction ought to repress its extravagant or ...
— Original Letters and Biographic Epitomes • J. Atwood.Slater

... was done by the League at a signal as a celebration of the election and a threat of terror to the county. One of our men concealed a faithful negro under the floor of the school-house and heard the plot hatched. We expected it a month ago—but hoped they had ...
— The Clansman - An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan • Thomas Dixon

... the author makes Krishna proclaim. Gentle as many of its precepts are, the Bhagavad Gita, or the "Lord's Lay," is a battle-song uttered by the Supreme Being while the contending hosts awaited the signal for fratricidal carnage. ...
— Oriental Religions and Christianity • Frank F. Ellinwood

... four generations later, is watching a very decisive, if not a final stage. Turgot's demonstration of the beneficence of Christianity was delivered in July 1750—almost the exact middle of the eighteenth century. The death of the Emperor Charles the Sixth, ten years before, had given the signal for the break-up of the European system. The iron army of Prussia made its first stride out of the narrow northern borders, into the broad arena of the West, and every new illustration of the fortitude ...
— Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) - Turgot • John Morley

... know Selwyn never thinks but a la tete tranchee." On having a tooth drawn, he told the man that he would drop his handkerchief for the signal. ...
— The Jest Book - The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings • Mark Lemon

... thunder of carriages hastening to the scene of action, bespoke the Signor's success. After the ninth hour, his numbers swelled rapidly. Pacini assumed an amusing importance, and his very myrmidons gave out their brass tickets with an air. At ten, a rocket was fired. At this preconcerted signal, the pavilion, hitherto purposely concealed, blazed in a flood of light. On its balcony stood the three Styrian brethren,—although, by the way, they were not brethren at all,—and, striking their harmonious guitars, wooed attention to their strains. The crowd hurried ...
— A Love Story • A Bushman

... Treasury during the period which has elapsed since your adjournment have been conducted with signal success. The patriotism of the people has placed at the disposal of the Government the large means demanded by the public exigencies; Much of the national loan has been taken by citizens of the industrial classes, whose confidence ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Lincoln - Section 1 (of 2) of Volume 6: Abraham Lincoln • Compiled by James D. Richardson

... with marvellous volubility of tongue, "is the signal of numberless pleasures; for now, thank God and the mighty Santiago, the Moors have had such a dressing that they will be in no humour for some time to renew their unruly frolics, and that happy event which we have so ...
— Gomez Arias - The Moors of the Alpujarras, A Spanish Historical Romance. • Joaquin Telesforo de Trueba y Cosio

... There are other signal events which might be observed. But all the while there would be danger of magnifying the importance of events which seem to prove the point. The view needs to be a more general one instead. The period is not long—three hundred years at the most— ...
— The Greatest English Classic A Study of the King James Version of • Cleland Boyd McAfee

... flag, with the three golden doves on it, was hanged out for two days together, to give them time and space to consider. But they, as was hinted before, as if they were unconcerned, made no reply to the favourable signal of the Prince. Then he commanded, and they set the red flag upon that mount called Mount Justice. It was the red flag of Captain Judgment, whose scutcheon was the burning fiery furnace, and this ...
— The Works of John Bunyan • John Bunyan

... the Count had spoken to the Marquis directly. The latter trembled as a soldier who hears the sound of the first battle signal. His emotion was short, and saluting the Count affably ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 • Various

... favour to give me the name of the tailor who made your blue jeans?' and, bless your life, Pinetop just took the mullein leaf from his eyes, and sang out 'Maw.' That was what Bland wanted, of course, so, without waiting for the danger signal, he plunged in again. 'Then if you don't object I should be glad to have the pattern of them,' he went on, as smooth as butter. 'I want them to wear when I go home again, you know. Why, they're just the things to take a lady's eye—they have almost the fit of a flour-sack—and the ladies are ...
— The Battle Ground • Ellen Glasgow

... stone is regarded as sacred, it is probably because it is associated with some misfortune, or some unusual piece of good luck. Someone sitting on the stone may have died; or on sleeping on it may have seen a remarkable vision, which was followed by a signal victory over a dangerous foe.... In all this, however, ethical considerations are remarkable for their absence.... Taking again so common a belief among all peoples as the influence for good or evil exerted by the dead upon the living and the numerous practices to which it gives rise ... it will ...
— Theism or Atheism - The Great Alternative • Chapman Cohen

... signal the entire ranks waited. Miss Ellis stepped up to the marshal smiling. She had evidently forgotten his ...
— Dorothy Dale • Margaret Penrose

... first entered the school," she writes, "he paid for his schooling by doing janitor's work, sweeping the floor and ringing the bell. I can see him even now standing in the morning with his hand on the bell-rope, ready to give the signal, calling teachers and scholars to engage in the duties of the day. As we passed by, entering the school-room, he had a cheerful word for every one. He was probably the most popular person in the institution. He was always good-natured, fond of conversation, ...
— From Canal Boy to President - Or The Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... conflict, drove the Persians back to their ships, capturing their camp with all its treasures (Sept. 12, 490 B.C.). This brilliant victory was not the end of danger. The Greek watchmen saw a treacherous signal, a glistening shield, on Mount Pentelicus, put there to signify to the Persians that Athens was open to their attack. In that direction, round Cape Sunium, the Persian fleet sailed. But Miltiades, by a rapid march of twenty-three miles, reached the city in season to ...
— Outline of Universal History • George Park Fisher

... five and six o'clock, General D.H. Hill, believing that he heard the appointed signal, broke forward from the timber, and five brigades, in one irregular line, charged full against the enemy's front. The Federals, disposed in several lines, were in overwhelming strength. Their batteries were free to concentrate on the advancing infantry. Their riflemen, posted in the interval between ...
— Stonewall Jackson And The American Civil War • G. F. R. Henderson

... such occasions, lean against the rail fence and bombard the busy woman alternately with bits of news, and pointed questions until, the last piece of linen in place upon the line, the empty basket would be a signal for adieus. ...
— Randy and Her Friends • Amy Brooks

... "The signal!" cried Sack Todd. "Boys, something is doing now, sure. We must get away, and at once. Are you ...
— The Rover Boys on the Plains - The Mystery of Red Rock Ranch • Arthur Winfield

... one after another, when suddenly they all stopped and the leader drew his bow across his violin. Never in all my life have I ever heard anything like the call of that waltz from that gipsy's strings. It laughed you a signal and you felt yourself ...
— The Melting of Molly • Maria Thompson Daviess

... talking as if nothing were going on, but now the conductor turned to them, and gave a signal for silence, which was taken up by all the people on ...
— Fair Margaret - A Portrait • Francis Marion Crawford

... that for them is richly complicated. But since all the immediate realities lie outside the direct experience both of the reporter, and of the special public by which most newspapers are supported, they have normally to wait for a signal in the shape of an overt act. When that signal comes, say through a walkout of the men or a summons for the police, it calls into play the stereotypes people have about strikes and disorders. The unseen struggle has none of its own flavor. It is noted abstractly, ...
— Public Opinion • Walter Lippmann

... spoke, (the girls) began again to beat the drum. The young maids were keen to hear lady Feng's jokes. They therefore explained to the singing girls, in a confidential tone, that a cough would be the given signal (for them to desist). In no time (the blossom) was handed round on both sides. As soon as it came to lady Feng, the young maids purposely gave a cough. The singing-girl at once stopped short. "Now we've caught her!" shouted ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin

... opponents would ever have ventured to reproach them, inasmuch as their own moral position, to say the least, was not a whit better. But against the former, his own brethren, Luther had to complain of base ingratitude to God for the signal benefits He had vouchsafed them. Thus the peasantry, in particular, he taxed again and again with their old selfish and obstinate indifference and stupidity; the burghers with their luxury and service ...
— Life of Luther • Julius Koestlin

... not a regular circus. Suppose you let me get my things off and give us all this signal ...
— Dorothy Dale's Queer Holidays • Margaret Penrose

... answer, but finished her hair and ran off; and presently the others filed off after her; and a loud clanging bell giving the signal, I thought best to go too. Every room was pouring forth its inmates; the halls and passages were all alive and astir. In the train of the moving crowd, I had no difficulty to find my way ...
— Daisy • Elizabeth Wetherell

... favor say 'Aye'!" Max proceeded to observe; and immediately a chorus of approval was the signal to send them ...
— In Camp on the Big Sunflower • Lawrence J. Leslie

... hers, for people thought that if they ate or drank anything that had been touched by a woman in her courses, it would make them weak or ill. Unmarried girls and widows at such times had to paint their heads and the upper parts of their bodies red,[187] no doubt as a danger signal. ...
— Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I. • Sir James George Frazer

... dear Log or journal. I had been asleep for some time, but wakened up to find myself standing in the dining room with a napkin in each hand. I was standing in the Flag Signal position for A, which is the only one I remember as yet without ...
— Bab: A Sub-Deb • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... till nine, when, being about three leagues short off Black-head, we saw some canoes put off from the shore. Upon this I brought to, in order to give them time to come on board; but ordered the Adventure, by signal, to stand on, as I was willing to lose as little ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 14 • Robert Kerr

... night, who, luckily, were lying in their skiff under the shadow of the bridge engaged in watching the mysterious movements of the very men who were lurking behind the big pedestal on the other side of the pier, awaiting the signal from the women, their confederates. In going over, his head was quite seriously hurt. At first it was thought that he had struck the edge of the boat in falling, but the doctor says it was a blow from some blunt instrument with a rounded end—some ...
— Against Odds - A Detective Story • Lawrence L. Lynch

... quarter of a mile through the woods when Dick, now alone in the lead, suddenly halted, holding up one hand as a signal to halt, while he rested the fingers of his other hand over his lips as ...
— The Grammar School Boys in Summer Athletics • H. Irving Hancock

... of the diamond robbers who are working havoc in Brussels at this time. He was, it is stated positively by the police, not alone in his operations last night. His duty, it is believed, was to obtain the lay of the land and to give the signal at the proper moment for a careful and systematic raid of the wealthy woman's house. The police now fear that the robbers, whose daring exploits have shocked and alarmed all Brussels, are on their guard and ...
— Castle Craneycrow • George Barr McCutcheon

... the waiting throng as the three horses, bearing their riders, proceeded up the track a few rods to make a dash for the line. The signal was given, and they came like three thunderbolts to the starting place; but reaching this they were not abreast, and another start must be made. They tried four times before they got away in line, ...
— The Kentucky Ranger • Edward T. Curnick

... reflection, and the more especially, as he had been frequently taunted with it and laughed at for it by the country girls, whenever he entered into any bantering conversation. A thought now struck him by which he could, as he imagined, execute a very signal revenge upon M'Mahon through Kathleen, and perhaps, ultimately upon Kathleen herself, if he should succeed with Miss Clinton; for he did not at all forgive Kathleen the two public instances of contempt with which she had treated him. There was still, however, another consideration. ...
— The Emigrants Of Ahadarra - The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two • William Carleton

... and proportionately strong. In the inky blackness of the shed it was impossible to see his eyes; and from the suppleness of the wands, I did not like to trust to a parade. I made up my mind accordingly to profit, if I might, by my defect; and as soon as the signal should be given, to throw myself down and lunge at the same moment. It was to play my life upon one card: should I not mortally wound him, no defence would be left me; what was yet more appalling, I thus ran the risk of bringing my own face against his scissor with ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 20 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... signal, the two plainclothes FBI men took over from the attendants. They marched Logan out to their car, and Malone led the procession back to Boyd's automobile, a procession that consisted—in order—of Sir Kenneth Malone, prospective ...
— That Sweet Little Old Lady • Gordon Randall Garrett (AKA Mark Phillips)

... intelligence and enterprise of the istrovoschik. My knowledge of the Russian consisted of three words—the name of the street and dratzall kopeck, the latter being the stipulated fare of twenty kopecks. By an affirmative signal the driver gave me to understand that he fully comprehended my wishes, and, with a flourish of his whip, away we started. After driving me nearly all over the city of St. Petersburg—a pretty extensive city, as any body will find who undertakes ...
— The Land of Thor • J. Ross Browne

... sleeping and eating power, which want of exercise had taken from him. And he would even climb up to his beloved platform without waiting for the excuse of an attack, and there, crouching down like a cat ready to spring, as soon as he saw any one appear in the distance without giving the signal, he would try his skill upon the target, and make the man retrace his steps. This he called sweeping the ...
— Mauprat • George Sand

... Freshman is near a gate or door belonging to College or College yard, he shall look around and observe whether any of his superiors are coming to the same; and if any are coming within three rods, he shall not enter without a signal to proceed. In passing up or down stairs, or through an entry or any other narrow passage, if a Freshman meets a superior, he shall stop and give way, leaving the most convenient side,—if on the stairs, the banister side. Freshmen shall not run in College yard, or up or down ...
— A Collection of College Words and Customs • Benjamin Homer Hall

... up, and on seeing him move Mr. Longdon also rose, so that, facing each other across the room, they exchanged a friendly signal or ...
— The Awkward Age • Henry James

... Later, when the militia was called out and the police strengthened, the peasants drew them off with wonderful skill upon false scents, demolished toll-gates at one point while the militia, lured by false signal bugles, was marching in some opposite direction; and betook themselves finally, when the police was too thoroughly reinforced, to single incendiarisms and attempts at murder. As usual, these greater crimes were the end of the movement. Many withdrew from disapproval, ...
— The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 - with a Preface written in 1892 • Frederick Engels

... patient's arch offence—a symptom of his disease—was that he gabbled incessantly. He could no more stop talking than he could right his reason on command. Yet his failure to become silent at a word was the signal for punishment. On one occasion an attendant ordered him to stop talking and take a seat at the further end of the corridor, about forty feet distant. He was doing his best to obey, even running to keep ahead of the attendant at his heels. As they passed the spot where ...
— A Mind That Found Itself - An Autobiography • Clifford Whittingham Beers

... with all the skill and cleverness of the native valet, he carefully waited on me, relieving me of all difficulties due to my wounded arm, which was painful in the extreme if I attempted to move it, and when I was nearly dressed, turned silently to the door to signal to his men to be ...
— Gil the Gunner - The Youngest Officer in the East • George Manville Fenn

... his firm conviction that God was about to display His power in a signal manner to this people in order to arouse them to ...
— Adele Dubois - A Story of the Lovely Miramichi Valley in New Brunswick • Mrs. William T. Savage

... mikes pick up any unusual ruckus—any sharp increase in the noise level—come running," Malone said. "Otherwise, just sit still and wait for my signal. Got that?" ...
— Out Like a Light • Gordon Randall Garrett

... look here!" And the short, swart trooper took three quick strides, then pointed through the western gap in the adobe wall to the gilded edge of the range where the sun had just slipped from view. "It's ten mile to that ridge, it's ten minutes since I got the last wig-wag of the signal-flag at the pass. They hadn't come through then. What chance is there of their getting here in time to light out at dark? You did tell me to have everything ready to start, and then you undid it by sending half the escort back. You've been here in hell's half-acre three days and I've been here three ...
— Foes in Ambush • Charles King

... stupefaction that succeeded it had passed away, there was amongst the middle class a feeling of astonishment at the fact that they were still alive. The summary execution of some thieves, who were shot without a trial, was regarded as an act of signal justice. For a month Lamartine's phrase was repeated with reference to the red flag, "which had only gone the round of the Champ de Mars, while the tricoloured flag," etc.; and all ranged themselves under its shade, each party ...
— Sentimental Education, Volume II - The History of a Young Man • Gustave Flaubert

... a succession as unbroken as that of the waves upon our shores—a cause so universally loved, so deeply reverenced, and so unflinchingly supported by a brave and intrepid race, should never have attained the blessing of success. A more signal instance than that which Ireland can supply of the baffling of a nation's hope, the prolonged frustration of a people's will, is not on record; and few even of those who most condemn the errors and weakness by which Irishmen themselves have retarded ...
— Speeches from the Dock, Part I • Various



Words linked to "Signal" :   point, radio signal, tell, sign, starting signal, alarm, radio beacon, distress signal, telegraphic signal, animal communication, signal level, time signal, signalise, auspicate, foretell, all clear, incitement, alarum, foreshadow, traffic signal, curfew, bespeak, signal light, alert, warning signal, presage, output, betoken, radio beam, electrical energy, signal-to-noise ratio, signal tower, predict, augur, dog-ear, turn signal, signal fire, phone number, output signal, signal caller, wigwag, signal-to-noise, retreat, semaphore, whistle, background signal, whistling, symbol, drumbeat, high sign, impressive, flag, forecast, electricity, storm signal, mark, intercommunicate, beam, prognosticate



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