Semaphore Definition
sĕmə-fôr
semaphored, semaphores, semaphoring
noun
Any apparatus for signaling, as the arrangement of lights, flags, and mechanical arms on railroads.
Webster's New World
A system of signaling by the use of two flags, one held in each hand: the letters of the alphabet are represented by the various positions of the arms.
Webster's New World
Any system of signaling by semaphore.
Webster's New World
(computing) A bit, token, fragment of code, or some other mechanism which is used to restrict access to a shared function or device to a single process at a time, or to synchronize and coordinate events in different processes.
Wiktionary
verb
To send (a message) or to signal by semaphore.
American Heritage
To signal by semaphore.
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Semaphore
Noun
Singular:
semaphore
Plural:
semaphoresOrigin of Semaphore
-
Borrowed in 1816 from French sémaphore, coined in French from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma, “sign”), and -φωρος (-phoros, “bearing, bearer”), from φέρω (férō, “to bear, carry”).
From Wiktionary
Greek sēma sign –phore
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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