From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishindicatorin‧di‧ca‧tor /ˈɪndəkeɪtə $ -ər/ ●○○ AWL noun [countable] 1 SIGN/INDICATIONsomething that can be regarded as a sign of something else SYN sign All the main economic indicators suggest that trade is improving.► see thesaurus at sign2 British EnglishTTC one of the lights on a car that flash to show which way the car is turning SYN turn signal American English3 TMa pointer on a machine that shows the temperature, pressure, speed etc
Examples from the Corpus
indicator• An alternative indicator of demand for labour is employers' notification of vacancies.• Good economic indicators masked widespread unease.• Four indicators were emphasized - staff student ratios, average class sizes, average student hours and average lecturer hours.• High levels of cholesterol may be an important indicator of heart disease risk.• However, it is suggested that market share is normally the most important indicator of dominance though not the only factor.• It is these positive indicators that will count in the long run.• Shortly thereafter, Odom called back to say the warning indicators had changed to an all-out attack of 2,200 missiles.From Longman Business Dictionaryindicatorin‧di‧ca‧tor /ˈɪndəkeɪtə-ər/ noun [countable]ECONOMICS a sign of the level of activity in the economy or in a particular company or financial marketAll the main indicators suggest that trade is improving.indicator ofOrders for machine tools are considered an indicator of manufacturers’ optimism. → see also barometer → coincident indicator → economic indicator → financial indicator → key indicator → lagging indicator → leading indicator → sentiment indicator → technical indicator 