{n. phr.}, {literary} A warning; a message of some urgency. * /"This nuclear plant is about to explode, I think," the chief engineer said. "We'd better get out of here in a hurry, the handwriting is on the wall."/
{n. phr.} A sign that something bad will happen. * /When Bill's team lost four games in a row, he saw the handwriting on the wall./ * /John's employer had less and less work for him; John could read the handwriting on the wall and looked for another job./