Procedure words or prowords are words or phrases limited to radio telephone procedure used to facilitate communication by conveying information in a condensed standard verbal format.^[1] Prowords are voice versions of the much older prosigns for Morse code first developed in the 1860s for Morse telegraphy, and their meaning is identical. The U.S. military communications manual ACP-125^[2] is the most formal and perhaps earliest modern (post-WW-II) definitions of procedure words), but its definitions have been replicated by many other organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme, ^[3], the U.S. Coast Guard, the Rhode Island Department of Emergency Management^[4], Civil Air Patrol,^[5]Military Auxiliary Radio System^[6], and others.

Procedure words are one of several structured parts of radio voice procedures, including Brevity code and Plain language radio checks. The vast majority of the brevity codes from the U.S. military's Multiservice tactical brevity code are inappropriate for any civilian use, owing to their focus on large weapons (missiles, etc.) and other war-related issues. However, a few are used frequently enough in media to be memorable, including ABORT, BOGEY, BANDIT, FEET WET, FEET DRY, NEGATIVE CONTACT, and NO JOY.