green light
noun
a green-colored traffic light used to signal drivers, pedestrians, etc., that they may proceed.
Jump To:
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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:
The agency gave it the green light in March as a second-line tool to be used only after traditional methods for dealing with choking have failed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
After getting the green light, Worthe pulled back, and his permit expired.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Indeed, in the event of Alvarez giving Arsenal the green light to proceed with his signing in the coming days, a deal should move quickly.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Coincidentally, last March, Ward gave the green light for Carruthers’ execution after his attorneys had argued that Carruthers was not competent to be executed because he was “consumed by psychotic delusions.”
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 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
At oral arguments earlier this year, lawyers for the state’s court system urged the justices to green-light electronic recording, saying they’d already done everything in their power to fix the problem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“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
With that, she broke into a run for the green-light tunnel, leaving Jack staring after her with an open mouth.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
He first joined the company in 2024 and has since green-lighted 88 films.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
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
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
Among them Smithy threaded his way toward the green-lighted transfer zone, where he spiraled upward.
From Two Thousand Miles Below by Charles Willard Diffin
After writing a pilot on spec, he approached the executives at Crave — where he had previously produced “Letterkenny,” “Shoresy” and “Canada’s Drag Race” — about green-lighting a series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 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
"Given current interest rates, Netflix will have to be very selective about green-lighting content and how they would finance it."
From Reuters ● Jan. 17, 2023
“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
The California Democrat noted an alert sent by the House Sergeant-at-Arms William Walker who consulted with the Office of Attending Physician in green-lighting the extended public health emergency.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 29, 2021
A third season has already been green-lit, amid rumors that Meghan Markle might join the cast.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
Daily Corriere della Sera had said Meloni had green-lit Venezi's sacking due to the "accumulation of controversy" around the new director.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
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
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.
