green light

See also: greenlight and green-light

English

Etymology

From the standard red-green color scheme used in traffic lights and railway signals.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

green light (plural green lights)

1. A traffic light in its green state (indicating that vehicles may proceed).

   The drive home was much faster than usual; somehow we managed to hit every green light.

2. (idiomatic) Approval, or permission to proceed.

   We have a green light on the project. Work starts today.

3. (slang) A go-ahead to commit a crime, specifically to carry out a hit on someone (i.e. to kill).

   Yo man, I heard someone had put a green light out on you, so watch your back.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• get the green light
• give the green light (to)

• greenlight
• green wave

Related terms

• green arrow
• red light
• yellow light

Translations

green traffic light

• Arabic: ضَوْء أَخْضَر m (ḍawʔ ʔaḵḍar)
• Catalan: llum verd (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 綠燈／绿灯 (luk⁶ dang¹), 绿灯 (luk⁶ dang¹)

  Mandarin: 綠燈／绿灯 (zh) (lǜdēng), 绿灯 (zh) (lǜdēng)

• Czech: zelená (cs) f
• Dutch: groen licht (nl) n
• Finnish: vihreä valo
• French: feu vert (fr) m
• Georgian: მწვანე შუქი (mc̣vane šuki)
• German: grünes Licht n, Grünlicht n
• Greek: πράσινο (el) n (prásino)
• Hungarian: zöld fény, szabad jelzés
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: semaforo verde
• Japanese: 青信号 (ja) (あおしんごう, aoshingō)
• Lao: ໄຟຂຽວ (fai khiāu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: grønt lys n

• Polish: zielone światło n
• Portuguese: sinal verde m
• Romanian: semafor verde m
• Russian: зелёный свет (ru) m (zeljónyj svet)
• Spanish: luz verde m
• Swedish: grönt ljus (sv) n
• Turkish: yeşil ışık (tr)
• Vietnamese: đèn xanh

permission

• Arabic: ضَوْء أَخْضَر m (ḍawʔ ʔaḵḍar)
• Catalan: llum verd (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 開綠燈／开绿灯 (zh) (kāi lǜdēng), 开绿灯 (zh) (kāi lǜdēng)

• Czech: zelená (cs) f
• Dutch: het OK krijgen n, groen licht (nl)
• Finnish: vihreä valo
• French: feu vert (fr) m
• Georgian: მწვანე შუქი (mc̣vane šuki)
• German: grünes Licht n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: zöld út, zöld fény
• Italian: nulla osta
• Japanese: ゴーサイン (gō sain) ("go sign")
• Polish: zielone światło n
• Portuguese: sinal verde m
• Russian: зелёный свет (ru) m (zeljónyj svet), (colloquial) добро́ (ru) n (dobró)
• Spanish: aprobación (es) f, luz verde, visto bueno
• Swedish: grönt ljus (sv) n, klartecken (sv) n
• Turkish: yeşil ışık (tr)