highball n.2
(US) a signal, orig. used by railroads, meaning ‘proceed’.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Chicago Record 1 Mar. 6/1: ‘Milk trains’ [...] have ‘rights’ over the rails and get nothing but ‘high balls’ [DA]. | |
| ‘A Word-List From Minnesota’ in DN IV i 11: high-ball, n. Signal, or order (to go). (Railroad term.) ‘The conductor gave the engineer the high-ball to go ahead.’. | |
| Confessions of a Twentieth Century Hobo 70: The conductor waved his lamp—two short, sharp whistles, the highball, and we started to pick up speed rapidly. | |
| (con. 1890) ‘A Convention Song’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 27: Toot! Toot! there goes a highball now; / The rattler’s under way. | |
| Railroad Avenue 1: ‘Highball’ is the go-ahead or come-on signal. | |
| Iron City 33: That’s called highball. Railroad signal, means let’s go! | |
| World’s Toughest Prison 803: high ball – A ‘proceed’ signal. | |
| Current Sl. V:1. | |
| (con. 1930s–60s) Guilty of Everything (1998) 238: We waited ’til they linked up the various cars and gave the highball, and then we caught it on the fly. |
In phrases
(US) to reject, to brush off, esp. to end a relationship or love affair.
| in DARE. | |
 | ‘Little Boy Lost’ Pt 10 on Junkheap 🌐 ‘Go on, give him the highball,’ Tommy broke in. ‘We can’t transport a screaming kid across the city, and we’ve got to lay low all day! You *know* what they’ll do to us if we’re found with a kid!’. |