green light, get/give the
get the green light
To receive permission to proceed with some action or task. Likened to the green light of a traffic signal. We're just waiting to get the green light from our managers before we release the latest software update.
See also: get, green, light
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
green light, get/give the
Permission to proceed. The term alludes to the green of traffic lights, signifying “go ahead,” which began to be used on railroads in the nineteenth century. Terence Rattigan in his play French without Tears (1937) wrote, “We had a bottle of wine and got pretty gay, and all the time she was giving me the old green light” (3.1).
See also: get, give, green
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- get the green light
- give somebody/get the green light
- green light
- green light, the
- give someone/something the green light
- give (one) the green light
- green indigo
- be green about the gills
- green about the gills
- (as) green as grass