exclamation point
noun
the sign (!) used in writing after an exclamation.
this mark sometimes used in writing two or more times in succession to indicate intensity of emotion, loudness, etc.: Long live the Queen!!
this mark sometimes used without accompanying words in writing direct discourse to indicate a speaker's dumbfounded astonishment: “His wife just gave birth to quintuplets.”(!)
Also called
exclamation mark.
Origin of exclamation point
First recorded in 1860–65
Words nearby exclamation point
excl.,
exclaim,
exclam.,
exclamation,
exclamation mark,
exclamation point,
exclamatory,
exclaustration,
exclave,
exclosure,
excludable
British Dictionary definitions for exclamation mark
exclamation mark
US exclamation point
noun
the punctuation mark ! used after exclamations and vehement commands
this mark used for any other purpose, as to draw attention to an obvious mistake, in road warning signs, (in chess commentaries) beside the notation of a move considered a good one, (in mathematics) as a symbol of the factorial function, or (in logic) occurring with an existential quantifier
Cultural definitions for exclamation mark
exclamation point
A punctuation mark (!) used after an abrupt and emphatic statement or after a command: “‘Help!’ he cried, as his boat floated toward the edge of Niagara Falls.”