red flag
noun
the symbol or banner of a left-wing revolutionary party.
red flag
1 Americannoun
-
the symbol or banner of a left-wing revolutionary party.
-
a danger signal.
-
something that provokes an angry or hostile reaction.
The talk about raising taxes was a red flag to many voters.
-
Also called powder flag. Nautical. a red burgee, designating in the International Code of Signals the letter “B,” flown by itself to show that a vessel is carrying, loading, or discharging explosives or highly inflammable material.
-
(initial capital letters) a war game the U.S. Air Force holds several times each year at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, to train personnel in air combat.
red-flag
2
American
[red-flag]
/ ˈrɛdˈflæg /
verb (used with object)
red-flagged,
red-flagging
-
to mark or draw attention to for a particular purpose.
The department has red-flagged the most urgent repair work to be done.
-
to provoke the attention of; alert; arouse.
The animal's refusal to eat red-flagged the keeper that something was wrong.
adjective
-
of or relating to a red flag.
-
intended or serving to emphasize, warn, incite, or provoke.
red flag
1
British
noun
-
a symbol of socialism, communism, or revolution
-
a warning of danger or a signal to stop
Red Flag
2
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of red flag1
First recorded in 1770–80
Origin of red-flag2
First recorded in 1880–85
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:
A big red flag for companies: A high credit-utilization score suggests to lenders that you may be a higher risk.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
She said that as she spent so much time on a computer running her business, she was used to seeing scams, but this time "nothing sparked a red flag".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
She sat on the windowsill, occasionally going over to peek out through the front door, but the big red flag she had planted advertising the showing wasn’t drawing much attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
One person had to wave a red flag while walking in front of the vehicle to warn horses and pedestrians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
House after house was decorated with a tiny red flag, the sign that yellow fever had invaded it.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
A red-flag moment was his and colleagues’ skepticism at the idea of asymptomatic spread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We have a red-flag system here, where if there’s anything that gets really out of whack, they can immediately tag the milk, and it doesn’t go to anything but cheese,” McAfee told me.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
You are in big red-flag territory for this one.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
A red-flag fire danger warning remains in effect for the area until 6 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024
She denounced it as a “hodgepodge of plagiarism pulled from here, a bit from there, the whole misinterpreted and sensationalized to give color to the red-flag word SPIES.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
“A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions will occur shortly,” the warning said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
In Florida, 38 counties are under burn bans and most inland regions in the state are under Red Flag warnings from the weather service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
There are nearly 38,000 companies in critical financial distress, according to data prepared by analysts Red Flag for Begbies Traynor.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2023
Begbies Traynor's quarterly Red Flag Report on corporate distress, covering the April-June period, found that 438,702 businesses across the UK were in "significant" distress, up 8.5% on a year earlier.
From Reuters ● Oct. 6, 2023
Advance of the National Guard, preceded by the Red Flag.
From History of the Girondists, Volume I Personal Memoirs of the Patriots of the French Revolution by H. T. Ryde
For instance, a corporate group of high-handicap golfers who haven’t played the course before can be red-flagged in advance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
In August, BBC News NI reported that some patients who have been red-flagged for breast cancer assessments are waiting up to 10 weeks to be seen.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completed the podium in a sprint that was red-flagged after Piastri and Alpine's Franco Colapinto' exited the 100km dash.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
As first reported by the BBC, the All England Club's security measures spotted the man had been red-flagged, and blocked his attempt to enter the public ballot.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2025
“Again I swung my red-flagged brassey in front of the angry creature’s face, and what I had hoped for followed.”
From Mr. Munchausen Being a True Account of Some of the Recent Adventures beyond the Styx of the Late Hieronymus Carl Friedrich, Sometime Baron Munchausen of Bodenwerder by John Kendrick Bangs
“Passing judgments, applying labels, and red-flagging educational materials that might prompt uncomfortable but insightful discussions are activities that do not belong in our public schools.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2019
From next season players will be tested every day for six minutes before training, with computers immediately red-flagging anyone at risk.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 7, 2013
But we make the caddie do the ordinary work of carrying, and teeing up, and red-flagging also, and he contrives in effect to be in two places at the same time.
From The Happy Golfer Being Some Experiences, Reflections, and a Few Deductions of a Wandering Golfer by Henry Leach
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.
