red light

noun

a red lamp, used as a traffic signal to mean “stop.”

an order or directive to halt an action, project, etc.: There's a red light on all unnecessary expenses.

a children's running game in which players must stop when “Red light!” is called.

a signal of danger; warning.

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Origin:
1840–50

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Red light is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), red-light·ed, red-light·ing.

Informal. to stop or deter by means of or as if with a red light.

Origin:
1895–1900

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To red light

Collins

World English Dictionary

red light

—n
1.	a signal to stop, esp a red traffic signal in a system of traffic lights
2.	a danger signal
3.	an instruction to stop or discontinue
4.	a. a red lamp in a window of or outside a house indicating that it is a brothel
	b. (as modifier): a red-light district

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Dynamo Rating For Red light

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Matching Quote

"Symbols have one characteristic in common with signs; they point beyond themselves to something else. The red sign at the street corner points to the order to stop the movements of cars at certain intervals. A red light and the stopping of cars have essentially no relation to each other, but conventionally they are united as long as the convention lasts. The same is true of letters and numbers and partly even words. They point beyond themselves to sounds and meanings. They are given this special function by convention within a nation or by international conventions, as mathematical signs. Sometimes such signs are called symbols; but this is unfortunate because it makes the distinction between signs and symbols more difficult. Decisive is the fact that signs do not participate in the reality of that to which they point, while symbols do. Therefore, signs can be replaced for reasons of expediency or convention, while symbols cannot."

-Paul Tillich