throw signs

English

Verb

throw signs (third-person singular simple present throws signs, present participle throwing signs, simple past threw signs, past participle thrown signs)

1. To make a gesture of group affiliation (especially with a gang) from a distance.
   • 1996, Scott H. Decker, Barrik Van Winkle, Life in the Gang: Family, Friends, and Violence, page 122:

     " […] Cause I be going around wearing red and throwing signs up."

   • 2000, Thomas Capozzoli, R. Steve McVey, Kids Killing Kids: Managing Violence and Gangs in Schools, page 77:

     Members of the Folk Nation throw their signs from the right and members of the People Nation will throw signs from the left.

   • 2005, F. X. Toole, Million Dollar Baby: Stories from the Corner, page 170:

     [ […] ] of a thirty-year-old pro, a light-skinned brother named Malik “Chilly” Tubbs, who carried gang tattoos and would sometimes throw signs to passing cars.

   • 2006, G. Larry Mays, Juvenile Justice, page 308:

     Wearing certain types of jewelry and throwing signs can lead to tragic misidentification as a gang member.

Synonyms

• flag

Anagrams

• Wrightsons, shortwings, string show