Word.ws English Dictionary

smoke-signal

smoke-signal is the alternative spelling of smoke signal.

Verb

smoke-signal (third-person singular simple present smoke-signals, present participle smoke-signalling, simple past and past participle smoke-signalled)

  1. To use smoke signals.
  2. To inform or indicate by smoke signal.
    • ‘His approach was smoke-signalled, the leper collected his mates and they took to the rocks, camping in caves up in the heads of gorges.’1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 261

Meaning of smoke signal

Noun

smoke signal (plural smoke signals)

  1. (often pluralized) A method of long-distance communication sometimes used in ancient and undeveloped societies, consisting of messages conveyed by means of columns or intermittent puffs of smoke.
  2. A message or sign sent by this method.
    • "I have seen the first of the smoke signals, Gulunna," he said, "Chief Bulla's tribes are on their way."1944, H. Lorna Bingham, Tuckonie's Warrior Friend, page 33, column 2
  3. (idiomatic, often pluralized) An indirect message or indication, especially concerning a future event.
    • By every kind of wigwag and smoke signal in the language of diplomacy, the Administration seemed to be trying last week to tell Chinese Communist Boss Mao Tse-tung that he had nothing to worry about from the U.S.1950 September 11, “The Wooing of Mao”, in Time
  4. A type of flare or combustion device sometimes used as a distress signal.
    • A Huskie helicopter was whirring over the Gulf of Tonkin in search of Cullen when Vietnamese 1st Lieut. Nguyen Van Phu, who ditched his flaming Skyraider near the spot where the U.S. pilot went down, fired a smoke signal to attract its attention.1965 March 12, “Operation Rescue”, in Time

Forms of smoke-signal

Noun
pluralsmoke-signals
Verb
third-person singular presentsmoke-signals
present participlesmoke-signalling
past participlesmoke-signalled
pastsmoke-signalled

Questions about smoke-signal

What does smoke-signal mean?
Smoke-signal means to use smoke signals.
What is smoke-signal the alternative spelling of?
Smoke-signal is the alternative spelling of smoke signal.
What part of speech is smoke-signal?
Smoke-signal is a verb.
What is the past tense of smoke-signal?
The past tense of smoke-signal is smoke-signalled.

Words near smoke-signal in the dictionary

  1. smoke-ohs
  2. smoke-screen
  3. smoke-screens
  4. smoke-shade
  5. smoke-shades
  6. smoke-signal
  7. smoke-signalled
  8. smoke-signalling
  9. smoke-signals
  10. smoke-talk
  11. smoke-talks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smoke-signal (page history and authors); smoke signal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “smoke-signal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smoke-signal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.