amber

plural ambers

1. countableobsoleteuncountableAmbergris, the waxy product of the sperm whale.First known use 14th–18th c.

   Ambre is hote and drye […] Some say that it is the sparme of a whale.

   1526, The Grete Herball

   3 more examples

   As for Amber Grice, or Amber Cane, which ist most sweet myngled with other sweete thynges: some say it commeth from the rocks of the Sea. […] Some say it is gotten by a fish called Azelum, which feedeth upon Amber Grece, and dyeth, which is taken by cunnyng fishers and the belly opened, and this precious Amber found in hym.

   1579, The Booke of Simples, fol. 56 (contained in Bulleins Bulwarke of Defence against all Sicknesse, Soarnesse, and Woundes)

   The head of this fish is as hard as stone. The inhabitants of the Ocean sea coast affirme that this fish casteth foorth Amber; but whether the said Amber be the sperma or the excrement thereof, they cannot well determine.

   1600, John Pory (translator), A Geographical Historie of Africa (original by Leo Africanus), page 344

   Slaves […] with silver Censors […] perfum'd the air with Amber, Aloes wood, and other Scents.

   1717, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, letter, 18 Apr 1717

   1. countableobsoleteuncountableFormerly thought to be the product of a plant.

      The leaves of the foreſt were loaded with manna, pure amber dropped from every bough, honey diſtilled from the rifted rock, and the humming bee, drunk with joy, ſtrayed from flower to flower, forgetful of his burſting cells.

      1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv

2. countableuncountableA hard, generally yellow to brown translucent or transparent fossil resin from extinct coniferous trees of the pine genus, used for jewellery, decoration and later dissolved as a binder in varnishes. One variety, blue amber, appears blue rather than yellow under direct sunlight.First known use 15th c.

   With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery, With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery.

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]

   4 more examples

   Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   To shew this by example, we reade of Sabina Poppcea, to whom nothing was wanting, but shame and honestie, being extremely beloved of Nero, had the colour of her haire yellow, like Amber, which Nero esteemed much of, […] .

   1637, Monro, his expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment (called Mac-Keys Regiment), republished in 1999 →ISBN, page 102

   “My roses are yellow,” it answered; “as yellow as the hair of the mermaiden who sits upon an amber throne, and yellower than the daffodil that blooms in the meadow before the mower comes with his scythe.”

   1888, Oscar Wilde, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, in The Happy Prince and Other Tales, London: Duckworth, published 1928, page 43

   Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […]. (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

   2012 March 28, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128

3. countableuncountableA yellow-orange colour.

   And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 1:4

4. AustraliaCommonwealthUKcountableuncountableThe intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights, which when illuminated indicates that drivers should stop when safe to do so. See also yellow light.

   Also flashing ambers are not operational at this type of crossing.

   2000, Traffic Engineering & Control, volume 41, page 201

   2 more examples

   While earlier controllers provided concurrent ambers, present practice is to indicate a minimum intergreen period of 4 s.

   1974, Traffic Planning and Engineering, page 366

   >Problem: Red-red signals are too time consuming when traffic density is higher. I don't find them time consuming at all. I find them identical to ambers.

   2004 January 14, AZGuy, “Turn Signal Research shows amber no more effective then red”, in rec.autos.driving (Usenet)

   Synonyms: yellow

5. countableuncountablebiochemistryThe stop codon (nucleotide triplet) "UAG", or a mutant which has this stop codon at a premature place in its DNA sequence.

   an amber codon, an amber mutation, an amber suppressor

   2 more examples

   For example, to cross a temperature-sensitive mutation with an amber mutation, amber suppressor cells are infected at the low (permissive) temperature.

   2007, Molecular Genetics of Bacteria, edition 3, page 333

   Double ambers revert at 10⁻⁸−10⁻⁹, and therefore, reversion is negligible. Double-amber mutants are made by crossing single-amber mutants with each other.

   2007, Jonathan C. Kuhn, “Detection of Salmonella by Bacteriophage Felix 01”, in Salmonella: Methods and Protocols, pages 27–28

6. uncountableHesitance to proceed, or limited approval to proceed; an amber light.

   […] in response to the actions I just described, business was given the green light, and now we seem to be on amber.

   1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing, Hearings, Reports and Prints of the House Committee..., page 53

comparative more amber · superlative most amber

1. Of a brownish yellow colour, like that of most amber.

   Ahead, a cool breeze swept the pale morning sun across a grassy meadow turned amber by morning's frost.

   2008, Elizabeth Amber, Raine: The Lords of Satyr, page 211

   1 more example

   They all moved safely through the first green and then the second, but when the third light turned amber Jack's taxi was the last to cross the intersection.

   2006, Jeffrey Archer, False Impression, page 270

present singular third person ambers · participle present ambering · participle past ambered · past ambered

1. raretransitiveTo perfume or flavour with ambergris.

   ambered wine, an ambered room

2. raretransitiveTo preserve in amber.

   an ambered fly

3. literarypoeticraretransitiveTo cause to take on the yellow colour of amber.

   For purple mountains majesty; for amber waves of grain.

   1885, America the Beautiful

   2 more examples

   Home to the mosaic of coloured-lit windows in the black and white houses, the fake gas lamps ambering the cobbles, sometimes the scent of applewood smoke.

   2007, Phil Rickman, Fabric of Sin: A Merrily Watkins Mystery

   The firelight flickered on her rounded cheeks, ambering the pale skin.

   2008, Jeri Westerson, Veil of Lies: A Medieval Noir

4. intransitiveliterarypoeticrareTo take on the yellow colour of amber.

   Westward along Lancaster Avenue, among the stone walls and broad driveways of imposing old houses—their lawns dappled with the shade of ambering maples and dusty, bark-peeled sycamores—

   2009, Jack Wennerstrom, Black Coffee, page 19

   1 more example

   [T]hough many of the pirates protested against these energetic activities[,] he was only pleasantly tired when the lowering, ambering sun began to bounce needles of gold glare off the waves ahead;

   2011, Tim Powers, On Stranger Tides

1. A female given name from English, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s.

   And then she said softly, "Sarah - I think I'll name her Amber - for the colour of her father's eyes - "

   1944, Kathleen Winsor, Forever Amber, Chicago Review Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 14

   2 more examples

   The youngest daughter of the Marchioness of Summerdown had one of these quaint, pretty names - Amber! - and what a pretty creature she was!

   1854 Harper's Magazine, Volume IX, June to November 1854, page 667 ("Lady Amber Mayne")

   A bit raddled, maybe thirty, maybe older, tanned like a hitchhiker, dressed like a road protester, one of those older women still determinedly being a girl; all those eighties feministy still-political women were terribly interested in what Eve did. Hippie name. Amber. Ridiculous name.

   2005, Ali Smith, The Accidental, Penguin, published 2006, →ISBN, page 64

2. A surname of uncertain origin.

   Amber, the half, generally waltzed round our forwards, and when he secured he passed the ball on to Aspinall.

   1901, Frederick Swainson, Acton's Feud: A Public School Story, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2007, →ISBN, page 14

alternative Ambar

1. A male given name from Hindi.
2. A city in Rajasthan, India, also known as Amer.

1. A river in Derbyshire, England, which joins the River Derwent at Ambergate.

1. Synonym of Ambel (“language”).

   Synonyms: Ambel