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Definition of "harbinger" []

  • One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner. (noun)
  • To signal the approach of; presage. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "harbinger" in a sentence
  • "Therefore, the JOLT survey is seen as a near - to mid-term harbinger of future hiring - and two straight months of declines sends a clear signal that joblessness won't be declining."
  • "In some ways, they said, the midterms were not as bleak a harbinger as some Democrats fear."
  • "The harbinger is the situation in Mexico, where the cartels are mounting armed attacks on officials, driving them to take repressive measures that are building resentment among ordinary citizens, many of whom are coming to see police and military as more of a threat than the cartelistas."