red-pencil

American  

[red-pen-suhl] / ˈrɛdˈpɛn səl /

verb (used with object)

red-penciled, red-penciling, red-pencilled, red-pencilling

1. to delete, censor, correct, or abridge (written material) with or as if with a pencil having a red lead.

   His book was heavily red-penciled before it got clearance.

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red-pencil British  

verb

1. (tr) to revise or correct (a book, manuscript, etc)

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Etymology

Origin of red-pencil

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

In his office he was said to have kept a box of used red-pencil caps as one way of keeping score.

From Washington Post

“The Child” is a middling and much-too-long suspense story that would have benefited from a ruthless red-pencil.

From Washington Post

Precisely because the spoken word is so important to the Arabs, government censors at first felt compelled to red-pencil portions of the regular Friday sermon from the silver-domed El Aksa mosque.

From Time Magazine Archive

He tore it up to light his pipe, and, just as he was twisting it, caught sight of a red-pencil mark.

From Project Gutenberg

I also note your red-pencil cross at the top of the page—which always gives me, as soon as I open a letter of yours, the assurance that all is still well with you and that victory still remains with you.

From Project Gutenberg