smoke signal
"smoke-signal" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“smoke signal” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A method of long-distance communication sometimes used in ancient and undeveloped societies, consisting of messages conveyed by means of columns or intermittent puffs of smoke.
Corpus desk
Index EN-smoke-signal · smoke signal · English
smoke signal · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | smoke signal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “smoke signal” in English
Rare enough to double-check
smoke signal is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for smoke signal in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is smoke signal, spelled S-M-O-K-E- -S-I-G-N-A-L.
Definition
- 1A method of long-distance communication sometimes used in ancient and undeveloped societies, consisting of messages conveyed by means of columns or intermittent puffs of smoke.
- 2A message or sign sent by this method.
- 3An indirect message or indication, especially concerning a future event.
- 4A type of flare or combustion device sometimes used as a distress signal.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how smoke signal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"I have seen the first of the smoke signals, Gulunna," he said, "Chief Bulla's tribes are on their way."
However, there are still signs of the careful study of sources—the smoke-signal which brought Caesar news of the Pompeian escape (279; Caes.3.65.2) and the second fortification inside the camp which Caesar attacked (288; Caes.3.66.4-5).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.