paint the town red

Cultural  

1. To go carousing: “Arnie and a few of his buddies drove off in a big car Friday night and really painted the town red.”

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paint the town red Idioms  

1. Go on a spree, as in Whenever they go to New York they want to paint the town red. The precise allusion of this term is disputed. Some believe it refers to setting something on fire; others point to a vague association of the color red with violence. [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

Cornhusker Corner is open twelve months a year, seven days a week, serving to paint the town red.

From Time Magazine Archive

Returning to Blida a convinced nationalist, Benkhedda wrote patriotic pamphlets and organized a group to paint the town red with slogans for Algerian independence.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the second instance the crews of two Cardiff tramps had joined in an effort to "paint the town red" at Bilbao, the Spanish port.

From Scotland Yard The methods and organisation of the Metropolitan Police by Dilnot, George

Plainly they were advertising the fact that they had come to paint the town red and did not care who knew it.

From A Man Four-Square by Raine, William MacLeod

I believe I shall have to go back to Brennerstadt with him to paint the town red.

From The Top of the World by Dell, Ethel M. (Ethel May)

Related Words

• honor
• laud
• observe
• perform
• praise
• proclaim
• revere