semaphore - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sem·a·phore

Audio Help [sem-uh-fawr, -fohr] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -phored, -phor·ing.

–noun

1.	an apparatus for conveying information by means of visual signals, as a light whose position may be changed.

2.	any of various devices for signaling by changing the position of a light, flag, etc.

3.	a system of signaling, esp. a system by which a special flag is held in each hand and various positions of the arms indicate specific letters, numbers, etc.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

4.	to signal by semaphore or by some system of flags.

[Origin: 1810–20; < Gk sêma sign + -phore

]

—Related forms

sem·a·phor·ic

Audio Help [sem-uh-fawr-ik, -for-] Pronunciation Key, sem·a·phor·i·cal, adjective

sem·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
semaphore

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sem·a·phore Audio Help (sěm'ə-fôr', -fōr') Pronunciation Key
n.

A visual signaling apparatus with flags, lights, or mechanically moving arms, as one used on a railroad.
A visual system for sending information by means of two flags that are held one in each hand, using an alphabetic code based on the position of the signaler's arms.

tr. & intr.v. sem·a·phored, sem·a·phor·ing, sem·a·phores
To send (a message) or to signal by semaphore.

[Greek sēma, sign + -phore.]

sem'a·phor'ic adj., sem'a·phor'i·cal·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
semaphore

"apparatus for signaling," 1816, probably from Fr. sémaphore, lit. "a bearer of signals," ult. from Gk. sema "sign, signal" + phoros "bearer," from pherein "to carry" (see infer).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

semaphore
noun
1.	an apparatus for visual signaling with lights or mechanically moving arms
verb
1.	send signals by or as if by semaphore
2.	convey by semaphore, of information

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
semaphore [ˈseməfoː] noun

a system of signalling with flags held in each hand
Example: He signalled the message to them in semaphore.

Arabic:	سيمافور: نِظام إرسال الإشارات بالأعْلام المُلَوَّحَه
Chinese (Simplified):	旗语信号系统
Chinese (Traditional):	旗語信號系統
Czech:	semafor
Danish:	optisk telegraf; semafor
Dutch:	vlaggeseinen
Estonian:	semafor
Finnish:	viittoilujärjestelmä
French:	sémaphore
German:	das Flaggenwinken
Greek:	σύστημα αποστολής σημάτων με σημαίες
Hungarian:	szemafor
Icelandic:	bendimerki
Indonesian:	semaphore
Italian:	semaforo

Japanese:	手旗信号
Korean:	수기(手旗) 신호
Latvian:	semafors
Lithuanian:	semaforas
Norwegian:	semafor, håndflagg
Polish:	semafor
Portuguese (Brazil):	semáforo
Portuguese (Portugal):	semáforo
Romanian:	semaforizare cu două steguleţe
Russian:	сигнализация флажками
Slovak:	semafor
Slovenian:	semafor
Spanish:	semáforo
Swedish:	semaforering
Turkish:	bayraklarla haberleşme yöntemi, semafor

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

semaphore programming, operating system
The classic method for restricting access to shared resources (e.g. storage) in a multi-processing environment. They were invented by Dijkstra and first used in T.H.E operating system.
A semaphore is a protected variable (or abstract data type) which can only be accessed using the following operations:
P(s) Semaphore s; while (s == 0) ; /* wait until s>0 */ s = s-1;
V(s) Semaphore s; s = s+1;
Init(s, v) Semaphore s; Int v; s = v;
P and V stand for Dutch "Proberen", to test, and "Verhogen", to increment. The value of a semaphore is the number of units of the resource which are free (if there is only one resource a "binary semaphore" with values 0 or 1 is used). The P operation busy-waits (or maybe sleeps) until a resource is available whereupon it immediately claims one. V is the inverse, it simply makes a resource available again after the process has finished using it. Init is only used to initialise the semaphore before any requests are made. The P and V operations must be indivisible, i.e. no other process can access the semaphore during the their execution.
To avoid busy-waiting, a semaphore may have an associated queue of processes (usually a FIFO). If a process does a P on a semaphore which is zero the process is added to the semaphore's queue. When another process increments the semaphore by doing a V and there are tasks on the queue, one is taken off and resumed.
(1995-02-01)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Semaphore

Sem"a*phore\, n. [Gr. sh^ma a sign + fe`rein to bear: cf. F. s['e]maphore.] A signal telegraph; an apparatus for giving signals by the disposition of lanterns, flags, oscillating arms, etc.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

semaphore

semaphore: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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