SOS

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the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (· · · – – – · · ·) used, especially by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.

noun

any call for help: We sent out an SOS for more typists.

verb (used without object)

to send an SOS.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of SOS

First recorded in 1905–10; from the Morse code alphabet, in which three dots (or short clicks) represents the letter S and three dashes (or long clicks) represents the letter O

Other definitions for SOS (2 of 3)

SOS

abbreviation Slang.

shit on a shingle (a euphemistic initialism used to avoid explicit vulgarity).

Other definitions for SOS (3 of 3)

s.o.s.

abbreviation

(in prescriptions) if necessary.

Origin of s.o.s.

From Latin sī opus sit

How to use SOS in a sentence

To see us all here tonight, who would dream of the parting to come so soon-n; s-o s-o-o-o-on-n!
Marjorie Dean College Freshman|Pauline Lester
Mysteriously, without warning, they had vanished; without a single S O S being sent, seven freighters had been lost.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930|Various
Can you link the power, or whatever you call it, up with the sending paraphernalia and get an S O S over the water?
The Campfire Girls on Station Island|Margaret Penrose
Had we not heard him say that the signal was to be an S O S sent, as it were, from the fleet far out on the ocean?
The Social Gangster|Arthur B. Reeve

Within an hour after you left they had it assembled and were cranking out S O S signals.
The Space Rover|Edwin K. Sloat

British Dictionary definitions for SOS

SOS

noun

an internationally recognized distress signal in which the letters SOS are repeatedly spelt out, as by radio-telegraphy: used esp by ships and aircraft

a message broadcast in an emergency for people otherwise unobtainable

informal a call for help

Word Origin for SOS

C20: letters chosen as the simplest to transmit and receive in Morse code; by folk etymology taken to be an abbreviation for save our souls

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012