green light, the

Idioms  

1. Permission to go ahead, as in The chief gave us the green light for starting this project. This term originated in the late 1800s for the signal used by railroads to indicate that a train could proceed. It was transferred to more general use in the first half of the 1900s.

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Example Sentences

Rosebank, located west of Shetland and estimated to contain between 300 and 500 million barrels of oil, was given the green light the following autumn.

From BBC

The ruling last month that had appeared to green light the latest planned auction was handed down by the High Court in Pretoria, which will now review whether to allow an appeal of its decision.

From New York Times

“What do you think?” one person with knowledge of the situation but unauthorized to speak publicly quipped rhetorically, when asked how long it took for ownership to green light the offer.

From Los Angeles Times

The board is expected to decide early next year on whether to green light the blueprint.

From Los Angeles Times

She grew the new strain in the same dish as the original, unaltered yeast and exposed it to green light, the wavelength rhodopsin is most sensitive to.

From Science Magazine