# see red

Pronunciation: say "see RED" US /si ˈɹɛd/, UK /siː ˈɹɛd/

## Idiom

1. To become angry or irritated, sometimes to the point of losing control.
   - Simple: To get angry or very annoyed.
   - _Being talked down to by her boss makes her see red._
   - _He saw red when he found a fresh scratch on his new car._
2. In soccer, to be shown a red card and sent off the field.
   - Simple: In soccer, to get a red card and have to leave the game.
   - _The coach warned his captain that one more reckless tackle and he would see red._
   - _The defender saw red for a late challenge, leaving his team with ten men for the last half hour._

## Origin

Possibly from the red flag some historic armies used to signal that battle was near, from the red cloth used to enrage bulls in Spanish bullfighting, or more generally from red as a colour of warning and danger. Compare similar idioms in other European languages, such as German rotsehen and French voir rouge.

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