bloody shirt


noun
  1. a bloodstained shirt used to incite a mob to vengeance.

  2. any symbol used for this purpose.

Origin of bloody shirt

1
First recorded in 1870–75

Words Nearby bloody shirt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bloody shirt in a sentence

  • He was the imbecile who stopped in Cincinnati and mailed you the bloody shirt to throw you off the scent.

    Average Jones | Samuel Hopkins Adams
  • I don't know but I prefer the 'waving of the bloody shirt' to this flaunting of the olive-branch.

  • Therewithal she pulled out a bloody doublet and a bloody shirt, that were be-bled with old blood.

  • Yet, as the sequel proved, it was long after Cleveland's day before the bloody shirt was laid finally to rest.

    Marse Henry (Vol. 2) | Henry Watterson
  • Yet the bloody shirt lingered long as a troublemaker, and was invoked by both parties.

    Marse Henry (Vol. 2) | Henry Watterson