Show-out
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A surreptitious signal made by an informer to the police contact, indicating that it is safe to approach.
"On entering the venue, the detective had to avoid approaching or acknowledging whoever he was meeting. First, the detective had to wait for the 'show out'. This consisted of a brief nod, signalling that there was nobody around who might blow the informer's cover."
Example
More examples"On entering the venue, the detective had to avoid approaching or acknowledging whoever he was meeting. First, the detective had to wait for the 'show out'. This consisted of a brief nod, signalling that there was nobody around who might blow the informer's cover."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.