bloody shirt
Americannoun
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a bloodstained shirt used to incite a mob to vengeance.
-
any symbol used for this purpose.
Etymology
Origin of bloody shirt
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
When Justice Antonin Scalia, an enthusiastic originalist, used to be asked about the case, he was prone to say, “Waving the bloody shirt of Brown again, eh?”
From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2022
Kim Kardashian is shooting down rumors she gifted her daughter North West a bloody shirt worn by former President John F. Kennedy.
From Fox News • Dec. 31, 2019
“Waving the bloody shirt of Brown again!” he’d complain when people brought it up.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 14, 2016
Actually, the bloody shirt was a real shirt, owned by a white Republican, A.P.
From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2016
When I got down from the bed, Chas saw the bloody shirt and said, “Is that from Casey Palmer?”
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
