How to Use signal in a Sentence

signal

1 of 3 noun
  • The teacher gave us the signal to finish what we were working on and hand in our tests.
  • Faulty wiring in the train station caused a signal to malfunction.
  • He likes her but he is sending the wrong signals with his constant teasing.
  • While the Amp powers speakers, the Port streams to an amp that then sends a signal to the speakers.
    Louryn Strampe, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2023
  • In Gorbachev’s case, the tragedy is that the West did not understand him and did not pick up the signals.
    Roberto Brunelli, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2023
  • That’s a crucial signal for the world, much of which takes its climate cues from the U.S and China.
    Lucas Thompson, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2023
  • That’s kind of a wrong signal to send that there’s not more future than just this year in the picture.
    Clarence E. Hill Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024
  • The toe becomes a signal to Samnang, as much to us, of greater wounds in need of addressing.
    Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2023
  • For now, the signal is still too random to be interpretable.
    Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
  • No signals cross the injury site to the other side, paralyzing the body below the site of the injury.
    Gail Dutton, Discover Magazine, 16 Nov. 2023
  • My network can pick up the signal and keep your AirTag online and trackable.
    Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Either way, the strength of the germline signal regulates the organism’s life span, Dillin said.
    Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The buzzing appeared as a strong signal at 1.33 kilohertz (kHz) via the fiber optic sensing.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Opry performances as a boy, the signal of the Opry’s home radio station, WSM, couldn’t reach that far out west.
    Nancy Kruh, Peoplemag, 27 Oct. 2023
  • Use Sunlight Your body responds to lightness and darkness as signals to be awake and to fall asleep.
    Mikayla Morell, Health, 22 Dec. 2023
  • In other words, well before the rod even stopped vibrating, the body’s touch sensors had already sent signals about the tool to the brain.
    Chip Colwell, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Drivers will be able to use all I-43 ramps at Brown Deer Road with temporary signals.
    Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2024
  • The resumption of fighting signals that US and Saudi efforts to extend the truce have failed.
    BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2023
  • The electrodes send pulses to the nerves that trick the brain into turning off or weakening pain signals.
    Aria Bendix, NBC News, 16 May 2023
  • In a negative signal for gas prices, the oil market continues to set new highs.
    Matt Egan, CNN, 18 Sep. 2023
  • The signal passes through gas, which might be turbulent or clumpy, dense or diffuse.
    WIRED, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Meta’s move to pay a dividend sends a signal about the company’s view of its growth potential.
    Alex Barinka, Fortune, 3 Feb. 2024
  • Many who called the airline's overwhelmed customer service center got a busy signal or were stuck on hold for hours.
    CBS News, 18 Dec. 2023
  • Not enough water and the high pressure can cause the dreaded error signal on your cooker or burn the applesauce.
    Julia Levy, Southern Living, 1 Oct. 2023
  • Then, soon after Hurricane Irma passed, in 2017, the signal went dead.
    Michael Adno, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2023
  • These sound waves send signals back to a machine that converts them into images of your baby.
    Tricia O'Brien, Parents, 11 July 2023
  • Every time your heart beats, an electrical signal goes through it.
    Donna Blass, Health, 4 Aug. 2023
  • But the mixed signal sent from Dubai about wealthy countries’ readiness to contribute more is a setback, say observers.
    Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Dec. 2023
  • The Utah array can last months to years but can stop working when scar tissue forms around the implant and interferes with its ability to pick up signals from nearby neurons.
    Emily Mullin, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Astronomers in the 1980s detected in Mercury’s exosphere atomic sodium, potassium and calcium, metals with strong emission signals that can be observed all the way from Earth with telescopes.
    Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
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signal

2 of 3 verb
  • The umpire signaled a strike.
  • Robins signal the arrival of spring.
  • They signaled at me to come over to their table.
  • Did he signal before he made the left turn?
  • He signaled us that it was time to begin the meeting.
  • The election results surely signal the start of a new era.
  • A lock on the suitcase might signal that there's something of value inside.
  • This card, deemed one of the most positive in all of the tarot, is here to signal that the storm has passed.
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2023
  • For Loeb, that’s more than enough to signal a permanent change in the landscape.
    Bailey Lipschultz, Fortune, 6 Aug. 2023
  • The group used a strobe light to try and signal for help while watching aircrafts fly overhead.
    Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Still, young voters said the grassroots movement was the best way to signal their desire for a cease-fire.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Sell-by dates: More a guide for retailers to signal when items need to be removed.
    Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Nov. 2023
  • To the researchers, this change signals a less resilient ecosystem.
    Sarah Sloat, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Experts say the hike — the first since 2018 — signals the return of runaway healthcare costs.
    Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2023
  • The crash signaled the start of the Great Depression, which led to the downfall of his presidency.
    Rachel Schilke, Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2024
  • Along with low energy, your thoughts about food could signal a need for change.
    Maggie O'Neill, Health, 12 Jan. 2024
  • Allen has always had a strong sense of style, but her recent parade signals a new era for the singer and actor.
    Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 8 Aug. 2023
  • The officer had been signaling east- and westbound traffic to come to a stop.
    Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
  • Affleck signals to Ice Spice to jump in as the camera cuts to the singer with a joking look of shock and embarrassment on her face.
    Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The White House has signaled an openness to most of these areas, but not to the extent that Republicans want.
    Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 24 May 2023
  • Indeed, the cops had repeatedly signalled an impulse to chalk the case up as the suicide of a troubled kid.
    Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
  • The antler appears to be still attached to a small chunk of bone, signaling that it was taken from a dead deer the gator had killed or scavenged and not a shed antler.
    Sage Marshall, Field & Stream, 5 Oct. 2023
  • The White House signaled its support for the agreement shortly after it was announced.
    Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 29 Feb. 2024
  • So after 15 months and 10 consecutive rate hikes, the Fed left rates unchanged in June but signaled that two more hikes were coming by the end of the year.
    Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 17 July 2023
  • In saying that, Biden seemed to signal that his patience was also running out.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 14 Dec. 2023
  • But for Powell and his colleagues, the move was key to staying on message, and signaled a lasting resolve.
    Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 18 Dec. 2023
  • Extending the deadline signals the board still clearly believes in the power of Iger.
    Allison Morrow, CNN, 9 Aug. 2023
  • But there is a point where a the way an injury looks and feels can signal a problem, usually an infection.
    Sarah Bradley, Health, 14 July 2023
  • Even the banks, including UBS, have signaled support for major parts of the reform agenda.
    Bastian Benrath, Fortune Europe, 4 Apr. 2024
  • It’s also equipped with a wrist lanyard and a flashlight with multiple settings and an SOS strobe to signal for help.
    Kevin Brouillard, Travel + Leisure, 13 Dec. 2023
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signal

3 of 3 adjective
  • Is he worthy of such a signal honor?
  • Smith is the signal caller who should remain on the field on running downs.
    Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 8 Sep. 2021
  • The first two on the left glow green and signal power and when there’s a connection to the Internet.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2021
  • The signal output from the probe hasn’t weakened, either, NASA says.
    Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 May 2022
  • Here is a look at some of the signal callers that, as of December 7, are looking for a new home.
    Tom Layberger, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2021
  • We are being told the signal events in their lives, not witnessing them.
    Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 22 Sep. 2022
  • No other team has had more signal callers in that span.
    Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 12 Sep. 2021
  • Officials said there is a signal problem at the Largo stop.
    Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2021
  • Howard Connor, the signal officer of the Navajos, said.
    Rachel Trent, CNN, 30 Mar. 2021
  • In three of them, hormones that signal pregnancy appeared in the blood.
    Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 6 Apr. 2023
  • There are a lot of changes going on in college athletics, and most of them signal progress.
    Wally Hall, Arkansas Online, 17 June 2021
  • Jason's book dives into the journey that those signal callers have made over the years.
    Andrew Hammond, Detroit Free Press, 28 July 2022
  • So the city only pays 50% for the signal maintenance along those highways.
    Steve Lord, chicagotribune.com, 12 Oct. 2021
  • Burleson has to wait nine months to get a signal light as part of a road improvement, Attanasio said.
    Dallas News, 9 Dec. 2022
  • And signal lights specifically for bikes in the middle of a busy downtown area?
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Aug. 2023
  • And right now, that is exactly what the Football Team needs from its signal caller.
    Emily Iannaconi, Forbes, 28 May 2021
  • People can check the signal status of these devices in real time.
    Eleanor McCrary, USA TODAY, 17 Nov. 2022
  • One signal effort has been to speed up the ceremony (since 2002, the show has run under four hours).
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 May 2021
  • The trucks will all be remotely monitored by a human, and will need to be able to pull over on their own and signal for help.
    Christopher Mims, WSJ, 18 June 2022
  • The signal quality is limited as is the distance that the system can peer into the body.
    IEEE Spectrum, 26 May 2023
  • The idea of sending up the digital equivalent of a signal flare and having to wait on Linksys support to get back to me sounds like hell.
    Wes Davis, The Verge, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The three-minute, eight-second call was a signal moment in the emerging field of pre-arrival instruction and T-CPR.
    Brian Anderson, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2021
  • The death of Lumumba was a signal moment of both the Cold War and decolonization, two defining events of the post-1945 world.
    Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023
  • The collision caused Parsad's car to roll over and hit the signal light pole so hard that the camera which recorded the crash moved and was no longer aimed at the intersection.
    Elena Santa Cruz, The Arizona Republic, 2 May 2023
  • The cellular signal indicator will move to the left, next to the carrier name.
    Chris Smith, BGR, 4 Sep. 2022
  • The signal caller suffered a left Achilles tendon injury on his first drive as member of the Jets on Monday night.
    Michael Gehlken, Dallas News, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Tim Boyle, who is 0-3 as a starter during his four-year career, is the only other healthy signal caller on the roster.
    Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
  • That’s close enough to give rise to concerns about signal interference.
    Eric Tegler, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2021
  • An avalanche transceiver is a search tool that transmits and receives signal on the same wavelength as other transceivers.
    Maggie Slepian, Popular Mechanics, 13 Dec. 2022
  • In the amplifier stage, all the capacitors and resistors in the signal path were changed.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 29 June 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'signal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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