checkered flag
Americannoun
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a flag having a pattern of black and white squares, used to signal that a car has crossed the finish line and completed its race.
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this signal indicating the first car to cross the finish line or the winner.
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.
In a matter of 10 seconds, he had launched himself from third to first—and straight to the checkered flag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
“Well,” Verstappen said after taking the checkered flag, “it’s all possible now.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
The first film I saw in a theater was “The Love Bug,” Disney’s 1969 comedy about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie and the motley team who race him to many a checkered flag.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
He took the checkered flag on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas at full throttle.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
A checkered flag waves and our cars speed off, zipping down virtual city streets and jumping over police cars.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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.
