traffic light

noun

1. a set of electrically operated signal lights used to direct or control traffic at intersections.

traffic light

noun

1. one of a set of coloured lights placed at crossroads, junctions, etc, to control the flow of traffic. A red light indicates that traffic must stop and a green light that it may go: usually an amber warning light is added between the red and the green

Word History and Origins

Origin of traffic light¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Buildings were plunged into darkness, while mobile phones and traffic lights stopped working.

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The judges used a traffic light system to rate all 153 books they read over eight months - green, amber and red, depending on what they thought of them.

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More than once, Piña has been caught sitting on his couch in his underwear, writing scripts on his laptop, as Hollywood tour buses stop at the traffic light outside.

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"I feel like someone standing at a traffic light, and then it turns green."

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The once spectacular coastline had seemingly morphed overnight — an apocalyptic transformation, decades in the making, seen with stark clarity now that orange caution tape and makeshift traffic lights mark what’s left of the shore.

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Related Words

• red light 
• stoplight 
• traffic control www.thesaurus.com
• yellow light