code yellow

noun

The situation where a person urinates in an undesirable location (e.g. hospital bed or retail store), requiring cleanup.

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Meanings

nouncode yellow (uncountable)
  1. humorousuncountableThe situation where a person urinates in an undesirable location (e.g. hospital bed or retail store), requiring cleanup.

Origin

Perhaps originally a code used for this situation in some hospitals, or named in imitation of hospital codes and in reference to the yellow colour of urine. (Hospitals today use code yellow for various things including an emergency requiring all personnel to report to the hospital, a bomb threat requiring all personnel to evacuate the hospital, an indication that a patient should be prioritized, an animal being loose, etc.)

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Cite this entry
APA

code yellow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code%20yellow

MLA

“code yellow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code%20yellow. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “code yellow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/code%20yellow.

Source: code yellow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.