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• red light
  red light

  noun

  a red lamp, used as a traffic signal to mean “stop.”
• red-light
  red-light

  verb (used with object)

  to stop or deter by means of or as if with a red light.

red light

¹ American  

noun

• red lights
  plural

1. a red lamp, used as a traffic signal to mean “stop.”

2. an order or directive to halt an action, project, etc..

   There's a red light on all unnecessary expenses.

3. a children's running game in which players must stop when “Red light!” is called.

4. a signal of danger; warning.

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red-light ² American  

[red-lahyt] / ˈrɛdˈlaɪt /

verb (used with object)

red-lighted, red-lighting

1. Informal. to stop or deter by means of or as if with a red light.

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red light British  

noun

1. a signal to stop, esp a red traffic signal in a system of traffic lights

2. a danger signal

3. an instruction to stop or discontinue

4. 1. a red lamp in a window of or outside a house indicating that it is a brothel

   2. ( as modifier )

      a red-light district

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• red lights
  plural

Etymology

Origin of red light¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Origin of red-light²

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

red light red-light red-lighted

“Carrying balances on those accounts is a flashing red light that changes need to be made to your budget. Don’t burn calories worrying about 3.75% vs. 4% when you are paying 20%.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Police said the person behind the wheel of the McLaren, which was heading north on Culver Drive, stopped at a red light on Deerfield Avenue just before the crash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

"We're getting to a point where it's a flashing yellow light. It's not a flashing red light," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The Cadillac allegedly pulled up alongside a BMW carrying Knight and Shakur at a red light at the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

She was putting the groceries onto the counter so that the woman in the pink smock could drive them over the beeping thing with the green and red light.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

One street has become the neighborhood’s unofficial wellness avenue, where there’s just store after store of red-light therapy, bathhouses, and microneedling.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

The former red-light district downtown has been transformed into a dedicated cultural district containing galleries, theaters, museums and a world-class symphony.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Singaporean photographer Aik Beng Chia used an image generator to depict the lives of transgender people in the city-state's Bugis street, then known as a red-light district, in the 1970s and 80s.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

As anxiety about the affliction spreads, the beauty industry is selling solutions ranging from creams to futuristic-looking LED red-light collars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

We raised Sicklen on a commercial wire and told him to turn his red-light and hold everything.

From Danger Signals Remarkable, Exciting and Unique Examples of the Bravery, Daring and Stoicism in the Midst of Danger of Train Dispatchers and Railroad Engineers by John A. Hill

Hagan advanced on a controversial call versus defending Countdown to the Championship winner Ron Capps, who red-lighted at the start.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2017

Models like the ones that red-lighted Kyle Behm continue to lock people out, even when the “science” inside them is little more than a bundle of untested assumptions.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 1, 2016

An enormous red-lighted Ferris wheel stands out, tawdry and proud of its daily victory over the slow-rising sun.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2016

There, guests including Diane Kruger, Jessica Alba and Rachel Zoe mingled inside a giant red-lighted replica of a black Chanel 2.55 handbag.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2012

Shall I fight him again—with metal digged from the earth, fashioned and sharpened in some red-lighted shop of the earth?

From Foes by Mary Johnston

Related Words

• traffic signal