Amber Alert

or AM·BER A·lert

[ am-ber uh-lert ]

noun

1. 1. a public alert system that uses broadcast media, text messages, and electronic billboards to spread information about missing persons, especially children.
   2. a public message or announcement that uses this system.

Amber alert

noun

1. a notification to the general public, such as by commercial radio or electronic traffic-condition signs, regarding an abduction of a child

Word History and Origins

Origin of Amber Alert¹

Backronym from America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response; named after Amber Hagerman, a girl kidnapped and murdered in Texas in 1996

Word History and Origins

Origin of Amber Alert¹

C20: named after Amber Hagerman , a child who was abducted and murdered in 1996 in Arlington, Texas

Example Sentences

The Amber Alert system will then decide whether to issue an alert.

From The Daily Beast

When the two couples returned home, they saw the Amber Alert issued for Anderson and called police.

From The Daily Beast

And so we set up surveillance cameras, we have the Amber Alert, we put more police officers on the street.

From The Daily Beast