BELLWETHERS Synonyms

• a person who goes before or announces the coming of another

• something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone

• anything that precedes something similar in time

• a leading instance in its field

• a horse used to set the pace in racing

• someone who marks a trail by leaving blazes on trees

• someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art

• Someone who starts a trend, or makes one more popular

• the leading units moving at the head of an army

• any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)

• the position of greatest importance or advancement; the leading position in any movement or field

• a measuring instrument for measuring and indicating a quantity such as the thickness of wire or the amount of rain etc.

• accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared

• the distance between the rails of a railway or between the wheels of a train

• the thickness of wire

• diameter of a tube or gun barrel

• judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time)

• rub to a uniform size

• determine the capacity, volume, or contents of by measurement and calculation

• measure precisely and against a standard

• adapt to a specified measurement

• mix in specific proportions

• a number or ratio (a value on a scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal relative changes as a function of time

• a signal for attracting attention

• a device for showing the operating condition of some system

• (chemistry) a substance that changes color to indicate the presence of some ion or substance; can be used to indicate the completion of a chemical reaction or (in medicine) to test for a particular reaction

• a perceptible indication of something not immediately apparent (as a visible clue that something has happened)

• a public display of a message

• any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message

• structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted

• (astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided

• (medicine) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease

• having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges)

• an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come

• a gesture that is part of a sign language

• a fundamental linguistic unit linking a signifier to that which is signified

• a character indicating a relation between quantities

• used of the language of the deaf

• mark with one's signature; write one's name (on)

• approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation

• be engaged by a written agreement

• engage by written agreement

• communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs

• place signs, as along a road

• communicate in sign language

• make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate