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alert Definition

alert (ə lʉrt′)

adjective

  1. watchful and ready, as in facing danger
  2. quick in thought or action; active; nimble

Etymology: Fr alerte, earlier à l'erte < It all' erta, on the watch < alla, at the + erta, a lookout, high (point) < VL *ergere, for L erigere, to erect

noun

  1. a warning signal as of an expected air raid; alarm
  2. the period during which such a warning is in effect

transitive verb

  1. to warn to be ready or watchful the troops were alerted
  2. to inform or make aware of we alerted them to their duties

alert Related Forms

alert′·ly adverb alert′·ness noun

alert Idioms

on the alert

watchful; vigilant

alert Synonyms

alert

modif.

  1. Watchful

    wary, on guard, wide-awake; see observant 2.

  2. Intelligent

    bright, clever, quick, sharp; see intelligent 1, observant 1. See syn. study atintelligent, watchful.

alert Synonyms

alert

n.

signal, alarm, warning; see alarm 1, warning.

on the alert

watchful, aware, vigilant, on guard; see observant 1, 2.

alert Synonyms

alert

v.

inform, put on guard, warn, signal; see warn.

alert Usage Examples

Object

  • occupant: A smoke alarm alerted the occupants to the fire which gave them valuable time to get out of the house safely.
  • motorist: The public can be trained to operate the SID, which alerts motorists if they are going too fast.
  • reader: Well it's all sorted now thanks to alert reader Simon Pritchard, maintainer of the excellent SPN pages.

Converse of object

  • vibrate: In these situations, switch the ring tone off and use the vibrate alert instead.
  • reuse: Yours Sincerely, [ Your Sign ] [ Your Name ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are reusing this alert, please cite the source.
  • trigger: Please check the procedures whenever you wish to trigger an alert.
  • stay: The answer is caffeine - the world's favorite way to stay alert.

Adjective modifier

  • hair-trigger: Other nuclear weapons states could be motivated to go on to hair-trigger alert through fear of a strike by the USA.
  • audible: Of course if you are over the speed limit you will get a full audible alert including voice warnings.
  • pandemic: Should the WHO change the level of their global pandemic alert, the FCO will update travel advice accordingly.
  • red: Would people actually want to watch a game of red alert 2 on the TV?

Modifies a noun

notification: All you get is a phish alert email notification.

Used with adjective complement

vibrate: Polyphonic ring tones, infra red port for connectivity & vibrate alert are just a few of the other features to be included.

Noun used with modifier

  • bebe: To his file may look like bebe alert at type of starting.
  • email: Take advantage of our free email alert on your listed artists!
  • theft: Datatool, the UK's biggest manufacturer of electronic security for motorcycles, have developed a theft text alert designed specifically for bikes.
  • flood: At Magude, the river has been well above flood alert level for more than a month.

Used with why or when

when: Safety cameras: Receive and report alerts when there are safety cameras coming up, fixed or mobile.

Preposition: for

  • pickpocket: Safety be alert for pickpockets when visiting Acapulco, especially at night around the busy bar areas.
  • mutagenicity: It had been proposed to extend TTC to carcinogenicity, but with criteria to exclude chemicals with certain structural alerts for mutagenicity and TCDD.