red alert
- (in military or civilian defense) the most urgent form of alert, signaling that an enemy attack is believed to be imminent.
- the signal or alarm sounded for this alert.Compare blue alert, white alert, yellow alert.
- a signal or warning that a critical situation is developing or has occurred.
- the period during which a state of crisis or danger is declared to exist.
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Origin of red alert
First recorded in 1960–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for red alert
Contemporary Examples of red alert
This was the fourth straight day of red-alert sirens wailing in Tel Aviv, and we were getting used to it.
