Bat-Signal

noun

A thing which serves to attract or summon something.

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Meanings

nounBat-Signal (plural Bat-Signals)

plural Bat-Signals · alternative Bat-signal · alternative bat-signal · alternative Bat Signal · alternative bat signal

  1. idiomaticinformalA thing which serves to attract or summon something.

    I honked the horn and flickered the lights as a bat signal for my mom to save me.

    2022, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Who Do I Think I Am?: Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams
    2 more examples

    The power of that promise is part of why Trump's election win was like a Bat-Signal for hatemongers of all kinds.

    2017, Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Resisting the New Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need

    "Have you met my mom? She's like a Bat-Signal for jerks. I'm never falling in love, Kellan. Ever. It's so stupid."

    2022, Alyne Hart, Glitter, page 15

Origin

From Bat- + signal: the extended (general) sense comes from the Bat-Signal, a searchlight-based distress signal in the DC Universe, used by Gotham City police to summon the superhero Batman.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Bat-Signal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bat-Signal

MLA

“Bat-Signal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bat-Signal. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bat-Signal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bat-Signal.

Source: Bat-Signal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.