red
noun
any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nanometers.
red
1 American
[red]
/ rɛd /
noun
-
reds
plural
-
any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nanometers.
-
something red.
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Older Slang: Usually Disparaging. Often Red a radical leftist in politics, especially a Communist.
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Informal. red light.
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Informal. red wine.
a glass of red.
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Also called red devil. Also called red bird,. Also called red doll. Slang. a capsule of the drug secobarbital, usually red in color.
He was caught with a half dozen reds in the bottom of his pack of cigarettes.
adjective
-
redder,
comparative
-
reddest
superlative
-
of the color red; of or like the color of blood.
a red rose.
-
reddish purple in color.
red wine made from purple grapes.
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orange, golden brown, or reddish brown in color.
red hair.
-
having distinctive areas or markings of red.
a red robin.
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red eyes from allergies.
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(of the face) flushed or blushing, as from shame.
cheeks red with embarrassment.
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of or indicating a state of financial loss or indebtedness.
the red column in the ledger.
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Politics. relating to, supporting, or belonging to the Republican Party in the United States; Republican.
This is big news in that it flips a red Senate seat to blue.
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Older Slang: Usually Disparaging.
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radically left politically.
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Often Red communist.
Red China.
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Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive. relating to, noting, or characteristic of North American Indian peoples.
idioms
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see red, to become very angry; become enraged.
Snobs make her see red.
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paint the town red. paint.
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in the red, operating at a loss or being in debt (opposed to in the black).
The newspaper strike put many businesses in the red.
red
2
American
[red]
/ rɛd /
verb (used with object)
red,
redding
Red
3
American
[red]
/ rɛd /
noun
-
a male or female given name.
-
a nickname typically given to someone with red hair.
red-
4
American
-red
5
American
red
1
British
/ rɛd /
noun
-
any of a group of colours, such as that of a ripe tomato or fresh blood, that lie at one end of the visible spectrum, next to orange, and are perceived by the eye when light in the approximate wavelength range 740–620 nanometres falls on the retina. Red is the complementary colour of cyan and forms a set of primary colours with blue and green
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a pigment or dye of or producing these colours
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red cloth or clothing
dressed in red
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a red ball in snooker, billiards, etc
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(in roulette and other gambling games) one of two colours on which players may place even bets, the other being black
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Also called: inner. archery a red ring on a target, between the blue and the gold, scoring seven points
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informal in debit; owing money
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informal to become very angry
adjective
-
of the colour red
-
reddish in colour or having parts or marks that are reddish
red hair
red deer
-
having the face temporarily suffused with blood, being a sign of anger, shame, etc
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(of the complexion) rosy; florid
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(of the eyes) bloodshot
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(of the hands) stained with blood, as after committing murder
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bloody or violent
red revolution
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(of wine) made from black grapes and coloured by their skins
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denoting the highest degree of urgency in an emergency; used by the police and the army and informally (esp in the phrase red alert )
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relating to, supporting, or representing the Republican Party Compare blue
verb
Red
2
British
/ rɛd /
adjective
-
Communist, Socialist, or Soviet
-
radical, leftist, or revolutionary
noun
-
a member or supporter of a Communist or Socialist Party or a national of a state having such a government, esp the former Soviet Union
-
a radical, leftist, or revolutionary
red
3
British
/ rɛd /
verb
red
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of red1
First recorded before 900; Middle English red, Old English rēad; cognate with German rot, Dutch rood, Old Norse raudhr, Latin rūfus, ruber, Greek erythrós; see rubella, rufescent, erythro-
Origin of -red5
Middle English -rede, Old English -rǣden
Explanation
The color red is a primary hue found at the end of the spectrum. You might turn red with embarrassment. It also represents financial loss, as in the term "red ink." The word red goes back to before 900, and we can see its roots in the Old English rēad. The idea of red as a signal to stop came in 1849. The color has been associated with rebellion as far back as the 13th Century, and in 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks adopted the color as their symbol. When the movement became the political party of Communism, the members became known as "Reds."
Vocabulary lists containing red
Red
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Welsh Fire, Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit and Trent Rockets kept their names and their kits pretty similar, while Southern Brave traded their green and black for navy and red.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
All that is left now is his motorbike, one red bicycle and an assortment of tools.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The center reported that she was no longer able to keep food down and experienced a significant decline in her packed cell volume, which measures the percentage of red blood cells in the bloodstream.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
A coyote is bathed in red light; a cougar stalks near a grand piano; a man stands in a tropical jungle surrounded by mist; a pay phone off the hook dangles by its cord.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
She saw a vision bathed in red of her husband flirting with the housekeeper in the alley of the hotel they were going to on vacation.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The 75-year-old leader made the announcement while speaking from the ramparts of New Delhi's imposing 17th-century Red Fort to mark the country's independence from Britain on August 15, 1947.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Meanwhile, high oil prices and attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have made the traditional routes costlier and more dangerous.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
One of the songs stuck behind it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Both Gloucester-Hartpury's Hunt, at age 37, and Harlequins' Marlie Packer, 36, are double world champions and included on the Red Roses' latest contract round.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
And in the Moon of Red Willow he rides highest, and evil is strongest.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
As Mr. Haskell kept watching, a flock of rainbow lorikeets, in their blue-, red-, orange- and green-feathered glory, blew in, “like windblown confetti,” chasing off the figbirds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The city will prioritize homes for the buyout of the eight homes that have been red- or yellow-tagged — officially deemed unsafe to enter or unlivable, respectively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
Then the Grulla students ran onto the stage to join their friends, and red- and blue-clad mariachis embraced each other joyously.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
The ECB also hopes a revised schedule will allow a greater balance between red- and white-ball cricket, produce higher-quality matches, and ease the strain on players' workloads.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2022
The other, who was small and red- haired, was Ron’s younger sister, Ginny.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Veterans proudly wore the distinctive berets of their old regiments -red for the Colonials recruited overseas, blue for paratroopers of Metropolitan France, green for Foreign Legionnaires.
From Time Magazine Archive
The color palette is dominated by greens, blues and violets toward the east, marking the sun’s rise, and reds, oranges and golds to the west.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
A Bordeaux-style blend that embodies Black Ankle’s strength: elegant and ageable reds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
A few months ago at the Pasadena City College Swap Meet, Whitley watched Saar pass stall after stall, ignoring all the wrong blues and reds, until something suddenly caught her attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
“When you get into the wedding scene, everybody is in pinks, soft reds, oranges and yellows,” Maciek said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The Chrysanthemum Teahouse glows in lavenders and magentas and reds.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
As Arizona yielded to New Mexico, the dirt seemed to get redder and the ridges rose to form buttes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
And with higher sugar concentrations, a pigment called anthocyanin is produced, making the leaves even redder.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2025
When the star moves toward a telescope, its visible light turns slightly bluer; when it moves away from us, the light shifts slightly redder.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
The closer the moon is to the Earth during an eclipse, the redder it looks, making it a super blood moon.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2024
I lay next to the corporal, whose eyes were redder than normal.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
For followers of medical disinformation, the claim that autism is linked to childhood vaccinations is the reddest of red flags.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
"It's the reddest, dustiest red supergiant that we've seen explode as a supernova," Suresh said.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2025
Union steamfitter Dan Osborn is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in Nebraska, one of the country's reddest states — and there are signs that the race could be much closer than expected.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2024
After his first few days on set, he returned to his dressing room to find an enormous bouquet of, as he put it, “the biggest and reddest roses I’ve seen in my life.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
Pasqual had the reddest hair I have ever seen in my life.
From "Lawn Boy" by Gary Paulsen
Mrs. Truman was redding up her rambling, 80-year-old home at 219 North Delaware St. in Independence.
From Time Magazine Archive
As Iran's young Shah came to power 20,000 Russian troops were camped outside Teheran, redding up their tanks for a triumphal entry into the city.
From Time Magazine Archive
Amarilly substituted a work apron for the little white covering, and was soon engaged in "redding."
From Amarilly of Clothes-line Alley by Belle Kanaris Maniates
"What! not remember moonlight, and Muschat's Cairn, and Rob and Rat?" said he, with the same sneer;—"Your memory needs redding up, my jo."
From The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 1 by Sir Walter Scott
But before dinner the captain made them go through their usual morning work of cleaning, airing, making beds, posting journals, noting temperatures, opening the fire-hole, and redding up.
From Fast in the Ice Adventures in the Polar Regions by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
