SOS
the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (· · · – – – · · ·) used, especially by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.
any call for help: We sent out an SOS for more typists.
to send an SOS.
Origin of SOS
1Other definitions for SOS (2 of 3)
Other definitions for s.o.s. (3 of 3)
(in prescriptions) if necessary.
Origin of s.o.s.
3Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use SOS in a sentence
To see us all here tonight, who would dream of the parting to come so soon-n; s-o s-o-o-o-on-n!
Marjorie Dean College Freshman | Pauline LesterMysteriously, without warning, they had vanished; without a single S O S being sent, seven freighters had been lost.
Can you link the power, or whatever you call it, up with the sending paraphernalia and get an S O S over the water?
The Campfire Girls on Station Island | Margaret PenroseHad we not heard him say that the signal was to be an S O S sent, as it were, from the fleet far out on the ocean?
The Social Gangster | Arthur B. ReeveWithin an hour after you left they had it assembled and were cranking out S O S signals.
The Space Rover | Edwin K. Sloat
British Dictionary definitions for SOS
an internationally recognized distress signal in which the letters SOS are repeatedly spelt out, as by radio-telegraphy: used esp by ships and aircraft
a message broadcast in an emergency for people otherwise unobtainable
informal a call for help
Origin of SOS
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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