a green-colored traffic light used to signal drivers, pedestrians, etc., that they may proceed.
authorization; approval; permission.
The railroad has been given the green light on the proposed fare increase.
a signal to go, esp a green traffic light
permission to proceed with a project
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The White House was convinced by the FDA’s findings and gave the agency the green light to make them public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The European Union on Wednesday gave the conditional green light for Paramount Skydance's $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The U.A.E. might also need a green light, explicit or otherwise, from Russia and the U.S. that it could receive the S-400 without triggering a diplomatic crisis with either party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The UK government will shortly have to decide whether to give the green light to two oil fields – Rosebank and Jackdaw.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
A green light above the driver turns red.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
“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
It wasn’t until 2021, when Saxon finally got the green-light to go ahead with “Ochi,” that more detailed animatronic puppets were created.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
“Get the hovercage over to the avenue. We don’t green-light until I give the word.”
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
Lionel Messi, the 39-year-old Argentina captain, who continues to light up the international stage 20 years on from his tournament debut, green-lighted every detail of the top-dollar set-up.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
The FDA had green-lighted the design of Moderna’s trial years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
County supervisors in late 2022 green-lighted an industrial real estate firm’s proposal to remove 117 homes and ranches in rural Bloomington to make way for more than 2 million square feet of warehouse space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
The government has since green-lighted the establishment of thousands of small companies.
From Reuters ● Aug. 21, 2023
And quiet, looking on and listening, in the strange, green-lighted, green-dark room, crushed by the gentle, hostile voices.
From Mary Olivier: a Life by Sinclair, May
Premiering Wednesday on ABC and Disney+, this is apparently that rare thing in 21st century dealmaking and green-lighting, a pilot submitted for your approval.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 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
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
“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
The policy, green-lit by Cardiff council on Friday, is focused on sustainability and promoting healthy food and drink.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 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.
