Signalese
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Words and abbreviations used by radio operators and other signalmen to clarify the letters being sent and received, such as the RAF phonetic alphabet. uncountable
"The signalese for 'S/L' I could decipher, but the NMI defeated me, until I learned that it referred to the fact, an oddity to Americans, that I had 'No Middle Initial'."
Example
More examples"The signalese for 'S/L' I could decipher, but the NMI defeated me, until I learned that it referred to the fact, an oddity to Americans, that I had 'No Middle Initial'."
Etymology
From signal + -ese.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.