# red

Pronunciation: say "RED" /ɹɛd/

## Adjective

1. Of the color of blood, ripe strawberries and the setting sun; of a playing card, belonging to hearts or diamonds.
   - Simple: Having the color of blood or strawberries, or in cards, being a heart or a diamond.
   - _A red ribbon was tied around the gift._
   - _The traffic lights glowed red through the fog._
4. Of hair, fur or other natural material, having an orange, orange-brown or reddish-brown color.
   - Simple: Having an orange or reddish-brown color, especially of hair or fur.
   - _His red beard made him easy to spot in the crowd._
   - _Both children inherited their mother's red hair._
5. Flushed with a deeper color than usual, as from embarrassment, anger, or sunburn.
   - Simple: Having a face or skin that looks pink and hot from embarrassment, anger, or sunburn.
   - _He turned red with anger and stormed out of the room._
   - _Their faces were red and chapped from the cold wind._
8. Supportive of, related to, or controlled by the U.S. Republican Party. *(US)*
   - Simple: Linked to or supporting the U.S. Republican Party.
   - _The election map turned red as Republican wins piled up._
   - _He represents a deeply red district in the South._
10. Supporting, connected with or controlled by left-wing parties and movements, especially socialist or communist ones, or by another party whose color is red.
   - Simple: Linked to left-wing politics, like socialism or communism, or to a political party that uses red as its color.
   - _The mining towns stayed staunchly red, backing the Socialist candidate in every election._
   - _Their grandfather voted red all his life and never trusted the bosses._
14. Of or relating to Native Americans or First Nations peoples, a use that is chiefly derogatory and offensive.
   - Simple: An offensive word used to describe Native American or First Nations people.

## Noun

2. The color of blood, strawberries, and the setting sun, evoked by the longest visible wavelengths of light, around 625 to 740 nanometers; also a primary additive color.
   - Simple: The color you see in blood, ripe strawberries, and a sunset.
   - _On a screen, red combines with green and blue to make white._
   - _The artist used red sparingly across the gray canvas._
3. Wine of a red color, made from dark-skinned grapes.
   - Simple: Wine that is dark red in color.
   - _She prefers a full-bodied red with grilled steak._
   - _The waiter recommended a smooth red from the local vineyards._
6. The card that a referee shows a player to send them off the field. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The card a referee holds up to make a player leave the game.
   - _The defender picked up a straight red for a reckless tackle in the 60th minute._
   - _Two reds in the first half left the visitors with nine players._
7. A traffic signal showing red, telling vehicles to stop. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A traffic light that tells cars to stop.
   - _The taxi sped through a red just as it was changing._
   - _Drivers must come to a full stop at a red._
11. A Communist or, more broadly, any revolutionary socialist; also, usually capitalized, a Bolshevik or someone who sided with the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
   - Simple: A communist, or someone who fights for revolutionary socialism.
   - _During the scare, anyone with leftist views risked being branded a red._
   - _The Whites and the Reds fought bitterly across the countryside._
9. Any of the red-coated forms of an animal, for instance the red kangaroo or the red squirrel. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The reddish kind of an animal, such as a kangaroo or a squirrel.
   - _A red can cover huge distances in a single leap._
   - _The reds in this forest are smaller than the grays._
12. An ale brewed with red or kilned malt, which gives the beer a reddish color.
   - Simple: A type of ale brewed with red or kilned malt that gives the beer its reddish color.
   - _She poured me a red from a small craft brewery upstate._
   - _The brewery's Irish red has a toasty, caramel flavor and a smooth, malty finish._
13. In snooker, one of the fifteen red balls, each worth one point; while reds remain on the table, a player must pot one before each attempt at a color.
   - Simple: In snooker, one of fifteen one-point red balls, which a player must pot before each attempt at a colored ball.
   - _He potted three reds and two blacks before missing the next black._
   - _With only one red left on the table, she needed snookers to win._
15. A Native American person; now considered a derogatory and offensive term.
   - Simple: An offensive word for a Native American person.
16. Ketchup made from tomatoes. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The thick red sauce made from tomatoes, eaten with fries and burgers.
   - _She likes plenty of red on her hot dog._
   - _'Red or brown?' the woman at the cafe asked as she handed me my bacon sandwich._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Belonging to the lower-frequency, longer-wavelength portion of the relevant part of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically its visible range.
- (noun) A coastal game fish (Sciaenops ocellatus) with reddish fins and scales, also known as the red drum or redfish.
- (noun) Chili con carne, typically referred to in the phrase "a bowl of red."
- (noun) The barbiturate drug secobarbital, or a capsule of it, named for the color of the capsule.
- (interjection) Called out to signal that the speaker wants current sexual activity to stop immediately.
- (noun) In particle physics, one of the three color charges a quark can carry, alongside green and blue.
- (adjective) In particle physics, carrying or characterized by the red color charge.
- (noun) A sweet, bright red carbonated soft drink, a variety of lemonade popular in Ireland and the UK.
- (noun) A redshank, a wading bird with long reddish legs commonly seen on British coasts and marshes.

## Origin

Old English rēad became Middle English red. Before that came Proto-West Germanic *raud and Proto-Germanic *raudaz, which go back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁rewdʰ-. Among its many relatives are Dutch rood, German rot, Latin ruber, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), and Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, "red, bloody").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/red (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).