to alert
- verb
- /əˈlɜrt/
- Please alert me immediately if you see any suspicious activity.
- alert the public
- alert readers
- alert parents
So they absolutely, for two weeks couldn't alert their spouse that they were OK.
- So they absolutely, for two weeks couldn't alert their spouse that they were OK.
- And then the kids alerted us today he wouldn't wake up.
- And my students, they Alert me to stuff all the time.
- And then someone smart will say, well, shouldn't it also alert you when you get an e-mail?
- So that was what alerted me to what's happening with him.
- It is an evolutionarily installed system to alert us to threats.
- So like they they smell and then they alert to the medical problem, something like that.
Examples
-
This car will alert you to speed cameras.
-
And a nationwide educational campaign to alert the public to the dangers of shaking was launched.
Academic text (2011) -
Better go up and alert security.
-
I must alert the others at once.
-
Do not alert him to my presence.
-
Well, I'll alert the staff and chain up the dogs.
-
Why didn't you alert the Coast Guard?
-
A best practice advisory was implemented to alert nurses if documentation was not up to date.
Academic text (2013) -
School counselors can ask teachers and school nurses to alert them to these symptoms should they occur frequently.
Academic text (2008) -
After she hung up, I phoned Al Rogoff again to alert him to this new development.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
Tell someone about possible danger so they can be careful
Tell someone about something, often in an official way
To warn someone about danger or problems
To tell someone about news or a change
Tell someone about possible danger before it happens
To warn people about a possible danger or serious problem
Make someone think there may be a problem
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Formal
A national system that lets officials send emergency warnings on radio and television
- Jargon
A military state where fighter jets stay ready to take off quickly to respond to a threat
- Jargon
A state when planes and their crews are ready to take off immediately for defense
How Urgent
Surface Forms
Etymology
Alert comes from the Italian phrase all'erta, meaning 'on the watch'. To alert someone is to put them 'on the watch'—to warn them so they notice and act.