Bat-Signal

English

Alternative forms

• Bat-signal
• bat-signal
• Bat Signal
• bat signal

Etymology

From Bat- +‎ signal: the extended (general) sense comes from the Bat-Signal, a searchlight-based distress signal in the DC Universe, used by Gotham City police to summon the superhero Batman.

Noun

Bat-Signal (plural Bat-Signals)

1. (idiomatic, informal) A thing which serves to attract or summon something.
   • 2017, Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Resisting the New Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need‎:

     The power of that promise is part of why Trump's election win was like a Bat-Signal for hatemongers of all kinds.

   • 2022, Alyne Hart, Glitter‎, page 15:

     "Have you met my mom? She's like a Bat-Signal for jerks. I'm never falling in love, Kellan. Ever. It's so stupid."

   • 2022, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Who Do I Think I Am?: Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams‎:

     I honked the horn and flickered the lights as a bat signal for my mom to save me.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Bat-Signal.

Related terms

• 🦇
• bat-phone

See also

• dog whistle