indicator

plural indicators

1. A pointer or index that indicates something.

   The visual indicators are a decided improvement, and have reduced the telephoning by the staff in the signalbox.

   1954 November, “Train Arrival Indicators at Euston”, in Railway Magazine, page 738

   2 more examples

   These old indicators [at Earl's Court station] show the destination of the next train by the appearance of an illuminated arrow next to the station name. The arrow may indicate that a train is going to Wimbledon, but it gives no clue as to when. Now, however, the indicators are supplemented by dot matrix panels that not only say where but also when. Why aren't the old ones removed? Because they, like the whole station, are Grade II listed.

   2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 79

   The phrase was, and remains, a double-edged sword: a testament to the hard-working and hard-living citizens of the Crescent City and an indicator of the “ah, whatever” shrug hanging over its corrupt politics, its ramshackle infrastructure and its belief that partying trumps all.

   2015 August 12, Todd Leopold, “Return to the ‘City That Care Forgot’”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Jan 2022

2. A meter or gauge.
3. The needle or dial on such a meter.
4. chemistryAny of many substances, such as litmus, used to indicate the concentration of a substance, or the degree of a reaction.
5. biologyA plant or animal whose presence is indicative of some specific environment.
6. economicsA measure, such as unemployment rate, which can be used to predict economic trends.
7. AustraliaIrelandNew ZealandSouth AfricaUKautomotiveA turn signal; each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which indicate a turn is being made to left or right, or a lane change etc.

   Synonyms: blinker, directional, directional signal, direction indicator, trafficator, turn indicator, turn signal

8. A bird, the honeyguide.
9. crosswordingA codeword that marks the use of a specific cryptic device.

   'Wild' is an anagram indicator showing that the letters of 'danger' have to be rearranged.

   2011 December 9, Collins, Crossword Secrets (Collins Little Book), HarperCollins UK, →ISBN, page 6

   2 more examples

   We surrounded the strike, Snowy (5) Snowy is the definition in this clue. Ignore the punctuation and capital letter of Snowy! Surrounded is the container indicator.

   2012 October 15, Denise Sutherland, Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 46

   We have already mentioned 'in' having multiple uses; 'round' or 'around' might be a container indicator or a reversal indicator; 'without' might be a container indicator or a deletion indicator, and so on.

   2020 August 20, Telegraph Media Group Ltd, The Telegraph: How To Solve a Cryptic Crossword: Mastering cryptic crosswords made easy, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 23