| 1. | the sign (!) used in writing after an exclamation. |
| 2. | this mark sometimes used in writing two or more times in succession to indicate intensity of emotion, loudness, etc.: Long live the Queen!! |
| 3. | this mark sometimes used without accompanying words in writing direct discourse to indicate a speaker's dumbfounded astonishment: “His wife just gave birth to quintuplets.” (!) |
| exclamation point n. A punctuation mark (!) used after an exclamation. Also called exclamation mark. |
A punctuation mark (!) used after an abrupt and emphatic statement or after a command: “‘Help!’ he cried, as his boat floated toward the edge of Niagara Falls.”
exclamation point
exclamation mark