DictionaryAI

red-handed

adjective
red-HAN-did/ˌɹɛdˈhændɪd/

3 meanings of red-handed

Practice

  1. 1
    caught doing wrongadjectiveidiomatic
    While doing something wrong, so there is no doubt that you did it.

    Mom caught my brother red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar.

    The thief was caught red-handed riding the stolen bike.

    Note
  2. 2
    covered in bloodadjectivecolloquial
    With hands that are red because there is blood on them.

    The hunter came back red-handed after cleaning the deer.

    After the bad cut, Tom stood in the kitchen red-handed and pale.

    Similarbloodied

    Note
  3. 3
    violentadjective
    Full of killing and blood.

    The old story tells of a red-handed pirate who sank many ships.

    The country was torn apart by a red-handed war.

    Similarbloody, murderous, bloodthirsty

    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of red-handed apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From red and handed, like a murderer with the victim's blood on their hands. Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819) first used "taken red-handed" for someone caught in the act.