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Glite Dictionary
🚦 Yellow traffic signal 🟧 Yellow-orange glow
amber light

amber light

1 3.2
A yellow traffic signal that tells drivers to stop or go with caution
  • noun
  • /ˈæmbər laɪt/
  • UK
translation icon : luz ámbar
  • As the amber light flickered, pedestrians waited patiently for the signal to change.
  • amber light flashes

Examples

  • The amber light on the traffic signal warned the cars to proceed with caution.

  • The amber light flickered in soft radiance upon the hunched back and shoulders of the magnificently muscled giant.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • This time the amber light flashed, and a chime sounded.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • An amber light flashes through the darkness, followed by a rapid buzzing sound.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Red, green, and amber lights at buttons labeled NAY, YEA, and PRES.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • He immediately began to breathe easier, his fear subsiding, as he saw not Christ splitting the heavens asunder but a shaft of amber light from the as-yet-unrisen sun illuminating a cloudbank.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • When the amber light appeared, all the drivers slowed down to prepare to stop.

Synonyms

yellow light
vsamber light
  • US
6 1.8

A traffic signal that warns drivers to slow down and prepare to stop

focuses on advising drivers to prepare to stop or proceed with caution

Antonyms

green light
46 2.3

A signal that lets you start or continue something, for example a traffic light

How Healthy

green light
46 2.3
amber light
  • UK
1 3.2
red light
2 1.7

Surface Forms

amber light singular
amber lights plural

Morphology

amber + light

The meaning 'light with a warm yellow-orange colour' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'amber' (a warm yellow‑brown colour) with 'light' (illumination). This noun+noun descriptive composition is common and cross-linguistically regular, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Amber light comes from the yellow amber colour on traffic signals that sits between green and red. It tells drivers to 'slow down' or 'prepare to stop', so the name now means a warning between 'go' and 'stop'.