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Glite Dictionary
wanted notice

wanted notice

5.8
A public message from the police asking people to help find a person for questioning or arrest
  • noun
  • Formal
translation icon : aviso de búsqueda
  • The police issued a wanted notice to find the suspect in the robbery case.

Examples

  • The media covered the wanted notice that detailed the criminal's last known whereabouts.

  • I saw a wanted notice posted at the town hall about a missing person.

  • You know that help wanted notice board outside Earl's?

    First Kill (2017)

  • Find the help wanted notice board outside Earl's.

    First Kill (2017)

  • So the Feds put out a wanted notice on the NCIC, and some smart beat cop turned up Gaffney where he'd gone to ground in San Francisco.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

wanted poster
vswanted notice
  • Formal
11 3.9

A public notice with a photo and details of a person police are looking for

is a formal public law enforcement statement rather than a pictured notice
Red Notice
vswanted notice
  • Formal
1 7.6

An official Interpol request to arrest and return a wanted person

is a public law enforcement alert for seeking questioning or arrest
International Wanted Notice
vswanted notice
  • Formal
7.6

An official Interpol notice that asks countries to arrest and send back a person accused of a crime

is a public law enforcement alert used generally, not only for global extradition

Surface Forms

wanted notice singular
wanted notices plural

Morphology

want + notice

The noun is a straightforward composition of 'wanted' (sought by authorities) + 'notice' (an official announcement), so the meaning 'an official announcement that someone is wanted' is directly derivable from the parts. This compound noun follows normal English noun phrase formation and has clear cross-linguistic equivalents, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

Wanted notice comes from old police posters that showed the big word wanted at the top and a notice with a photo, description and sometimes a reward to tell people someone was 'wanted' by the police. So, it now means an official message to the public asking for help to find or report a person.