green light
noun
a green-colored traffic light used to signal drivers, pedestrians, etc., that they may proceed.
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greenlighted.
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green light
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green-light
green-lightverb (used with object)to give permission to proceed; authorize.
green light
1 Americannoun
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green lights
plural
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a green-colored traffic light used to signal drivers, pedestrians, etc., that they may proceed.
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authorization; approval; permission.
The railroad has been given the green light on the proposed fare increase.
green-light
2
American
verb (used with object)
green-lighted,
green-lit,
green-lighting
green light
British
noun
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a signal to go, esp a green traffic light
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permission to proceed with a project
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I don’t think it’s a green light to go all-in.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Water companies have been given the green light to increase bills for customers by an extra £3.4bn in coming years to meet increased pressures on infrastructure and the environment.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
No public meetings or votes took place before a lone city staffer gave the company the green light last July to build the 438,500-square-foot facility on 56 acres of farmland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"They're currently being tested in some brigades," said Trotsenko, who is awaiting a green light for further rollout by the General Staff.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
“You see that little green light? That means it’s working. It’s for emergencies, so it’s always ready to go.”
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
“So far, we’ve seen no pressure on wages by any measure,” Lorizio said, but any uptick could serve as the final push for Fed officials to green-light rate increases.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
The group concluded that there was a strong case to green-light the breeding program.
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026
The reform has the backing of governors from the Andean provinces, who would have greater latitude to green-light mining projects.
From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026
If EU leaders green-light the reparations at Thursday's summit, the European Commission will begin drawing up the formal legal proposal for the loan.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
As they watched, the green-light tunnel extended farther and farther, finally stopping at what looked to be twin tornadoes of swirling wind and snow.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
The FDA had green-lighted the design of Moderna’s trial years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
However in 2020 their legal challenge was dismissed by a federal court in Germany, which green-lighted construction to go ahead.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
Why do you think the series was ultimately green-lighted at Showtime?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2024
Many cities have relaxed controls on property deals imposed earlier to cool price bubbles, and some 6,000 property projects have been green-lighted for lending.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
Brown like forest water, sort of green-lighted because the bottom is like turf; neither mud nor sand, but a kind of under-water moss?
From The Thing from the Lake by Eleanor M. (Eleanor Marie) Ingram
There is also a demand for more Latino executives to be involved in green-lighting projects and the inclusion of Latino consultants, writers and producers from the earliest stages of development.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
Ahead of that meeting, Mr Sunak called the green-lighting of the march a "decision that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has made".
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2023
Mr. Crenshaw missed a vote on the rules package this week, in addition to one green-lighting the creation of the select subcommittee.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
Federal Communications Commission on Thursday authorized Elon Musk's SpaceX to use its Starlink satellite internet network with moving vehicles, green-lighting the company's plan to expand broadband offerings to commercial airlines, shipping vessels and trucks.
From Reuters ● Jun. 30, 2022
“Stop canceling shows that people like, stop green-lighting so many ridiculous shows that nobody’s gonna watch, and stop raising the price,” they say.
From The Verge ● May 6, 2022
Patel’s best hope is that the lawsuit is dismissed early, because it’s highly unlikely that the Atlantic green-lit a story they knew, as his lawsuit claims, to be full of “false and obviously fabricated allegations.”
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
European regulators have also green-lit treatments by Sydnexis for progressive childhood myopia and Atara-Pierre Fabre’s for a rare blood cancer, both of which were recently rejected by the FDA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
One red flag: It ends on a cliffhanger, and Season 2 has not been green-lit yet, despite the show shooting to the top of Netflix’s charts.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
After building several hydropower plants in Tibet, China has green-lit what will be the world's largest dam on the lower reaches of Yarlung Tsangpo.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
Together they enter the dim, green-lit elevator, ascend to the fifth floor holding hands.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
