Bat-Signal
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Bat-Signal (plural Bat-Signals)
- (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[1]:
- 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[2], 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[3]:
- 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.