distress call

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

distress call - an internationally recognized signal sent out by a ship or plane indicating that help is neededdistress signalsignal, signaling, sign - any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message; "signals from the boat suddenly stopped"SOS - an internationally recognized distress signal in radio codeMayday - an internationally recognized distress signal via radiotelephone (from the French m'aider)