Words / B2

AMB-uh/ˈæmbə/

Amber is a hard yellow-brown fossil resin: Baltic amber; an amber bead. It is also the middle UK traffic-light colour, and a mid-level weather warning: an amber warning. Yellow is everyday for the light (US); resin is the raw material. An amber warning still needs the Met Office time. Mix-up: amber vs ember; Ambrose; do not write amber for a red warning or for gold.

Meaning

A hard yellow-brown fossil resin; also the middle traffic-light colour, or a weather-warning level.

Examples

• “An amber warning still needs the Met Office time; amber in the geology case is fossil resin.”
• “An amber warning still needs the Met Office time, not a jewellery slogan.”
• “Amber in the geology case is fossil resin, which is the material sense — still name the period if given.”

Good to know

Baltic amber; an amber traffic light (UK); an amber weather warning. Contrast: red / green warnings. Trap: ember / gold. Geology, citizenship, and geography. Fossil resin, the middle light, or a mid-level warning — specify and date it.

Near in meaning

resin, yellow-brown, mid-level warning

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