missignal

English

Alternative forms

• mis-signal

Etymology

From mis- +‎ signal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈsɪɡnəl/

Verb

missignal (third-person singular simple present missignals, present participle missignaling or missignalling, simple past and past participle missignaled or missignalled)

1. (transitive) To signal wrongly or in error
   • 1980, Duane S. Bishop, Behavioral Problems and the Disabled: Assessment and Management, page 368:

     These problems refer to difficulties incurred when a staff member ( or members ) becomes confused in interaction and either missignals or gives confusing signals as to social role.

   • 2003, Patrick Dunleavy, Authoring a PhD:

     False start II does not actively mis-signal what the new chapter is about.

   • 2008, Katrina Karkazis, Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority, and Lived Experience:

     At birth genitals are thus viewed as symbolically and literally revealing the truth of gender. At no time are the connections between genitals and gender more evident than when the genitalia of an infant either do not signal or else missignal sex.

Noun

missignal (plural missignals)

1. A bad or incorrect signal
   • 1991, Steve H. Hanke, Alan Arthur Walters, Capital Markets and Development:

     Is the signalling problem a reason not to pursue the policy, or is it a reason to deal with how to prevent the missignal by means of adequate disclosure?

   • 1994, Bill Reid, Ronald Austin Smith, Big-time Football at Harvard, 1905: The Diary of Coach Bill Reid:

     There was a missignal on the goal line and Newhall having no one to pass the ball to stuck it under his arm and made a successful quarter back run for a touch down.

   • 2016, Pippa Malmgren, Signals: How Everyday Signs Can Help Us Navigate the World's Turbulent Economy:

     However, government intervention in asset prices such as stocks and bonds destroys the most powerful signals the economy generates and instead creates artificial missignals, thus distorting incentives.

Anagrams

• misaligns