Meanings
- uncountableWords and abbreviations used by radio operators and other signalmen to clarify the letters being sent and received, such as the RAF phonetic alphabet.
The commodore's staff prepares the necessary message using a standardised jargon used by the Navy, sometimes referred to as 'signalese'.
2006, Ian Pfennigwerth, A Man of Intelligence: The Life of Captain Eric Nave, Australian Codebreaker, page 472 more examples
The signalese for 'S/L' I could decipher, but the NMI defeated me, until I learned that it referred to the fact, an oddity to Americans, that I had 'No Middle Initial'.
1967, Lawrence Wright, The Wooden Sword, page 164The signal "dit-dah-dit- dit-dit" which, in signalese meant "wait", was heard a lot while we attempted to decipher what it was the operator on the other end
1990, Ken Bradstreet, Hellcats
Origin
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
signalese. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/signalese
“signalese.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/signalese. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “signalese,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/signalese.
Source: signalese on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.