red alert
24
4.7
- noun
- /rɛd əˈlɜrt/
- Formal
:
alerta roja
- We have a red alert.
- go on red alert
- full red alert
The second impression is that they were completely stressed out at being on a kind of permanent red alert, trying to hold the lid on the powder keg.
- The second impression is that they were completely stressed out at being on a kind of permanent red alert, trying to hold the lid on the powder keg.
- So then when Russell starting told me about the approach that's been done to him, as as much as I didn't want to believe it, it was just I'm on red alert.
Examples
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All traffic sensors are on operational red alert.
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Three days and three red alert sirens later, I can say that it is starting to settle in.
Blog text (16) -
We have to issue a code red alert.
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Captain, I want the whole base on red alert!
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This is a red alert.
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The whole of Spectrum was put on red alert.
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The Army is on red alert while school children, farmers, civil servants, and residents from all riverine areas.
Blog text (13) -
Ever since, I started noticing the economy's decline and seeing the effects within my family and friends, which woke me up from my fantasy world and put me on red alert.
Blog text (11) -
An Israeli child and her mother run towards their apartment building as a 'Red Alert' sounds in the southern Israeli coastal town of Ashdod, 17 November 2012, signaling a Grad missile attack in the area by Palestinian militants inside the Gaza Strip.
Blog text (31) -
The military declared a red alert after receiving intelligence about a potential attack.
Synonyms
297
2.8
A warning that something dangerous or important may happen
28
6.5
A very serious emergency that needs immediate action
25
3.6
A time when people are extra ready and careful because of danger
How Serious
- Formal
24
4.7
25
3.6
297
2.8
- Literature
108
4.3
- Formal
26
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
red + alert
The meaning is clearly related to the constituents: 'alert' = warning and 'red' is commonly used to signal danger or highest severity, so a learner could infer that 'red alert' means a very serious warning. However, the specific conventional sense 'the highest state of alert' is a conventionalized, color-coded extension that learners may not predict without exposure to such warning systems, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Red alert may come from the simple image of a bright red light or flag used to show immediate 'danger'. That's why red alert means the highest 'warning' and tells people to act quickly.