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sign language

See more synonyms for sign language on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Also called sign. any of several visual-gestural systems of communication, especially employing manual gestures, as used among deaf people.
  2. any means of communication, as between speakers of different languages, using gestures.
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Origin of sign language

First recorded in 1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sign language

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Here, by sign-language unmistakable, we were informed that all they possessed was ours.

  • In Osnomian battles we always used a sign-language when we couldn't hear anything—and that was most of the time.

    Skylark Three

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • After ceremonies magical, or more prayers in sign-language, the Mura Mura 'at once cause clouds to appear in the sky.'

  • No, we must just go off early in the morning before he wakes, and get Manuela to try her hand at sign-language.

    The Rover of the Andes

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • In sign-language I gestured to her to make very sure of the knots; if anyone slipped, she hadn't the weight to hold us.

    The Planet Savers

    Marion Zimmer Bradley

British Dictionary definitions for sign language

sign language

noun
  1. another word for signing
  2. any system of communication by manual signs or gestures
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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