signal fire
3
4.2
- noun
- /ˈsɪɡnəl faɪər/
:
fuego de señal
- If that snow ever stops, we're gonna need signal fires to guide a rescue team in.
- build a signal fire
- light a signal fire
- start a signal fire
Examples
-
Whenever you see a ship, you run down quick and you light the signal fire.
-
He kneels down and begins to build a signal fire.
Fiction book (2000) -
Start a signal fire at first light.
-
But when are we gonna light the signal fire?
-
Then I think we ought to try to light the signal fire.
-
Anyway, that night we built a big signal fire.
Fiction book (1990) -
And then we can start a signal fire on the shore.
-
Dale, Javier, I need you to get to the beach, get to work on getting that signal fire going.
-
Those must be Andoni's signal fires, warning us to stay on the other side of the valley.
-
During the emergency, they lit a signal fire to attract the rescue team's attention.
Synonyms
1
3.2
A light or fire used to send a message over a distance
1
8.3
A fire lit on a hill or tower to signal people far away
A fire kept burning at night to signal people far away
How Visible
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a fire deliberately lit to send a signal' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'signal' (a cue or sign) with 'fire' (a burning flame). This noun+noun composition is a common, literal construction cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun signal fire comes from people lighting a fire on a hill or beach so others far away could see the signal, with smoke by day and flames by night. That's why signal fire means 'a fire lit to send a message or attract help'.