red tape
excessive formality and routine required before official action can be taken.
Origin of red tape
1Other words from red tape
- redtapism, noun
Words Nearby red tape
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use red tape in a sentence
Oak Flat translates this aggravating world of red tape and tedium into a thoughtful, often beautiful, and deeply human story.
'Oak Flat' Chronicles a Battle to Save Sacred Land | Erin Berger | January 14, 2021 | Outside OnlineIn France, administrative red tape and a lack of nursing home staff hobbled the early days of the vaccine campaign.
EU seeks an additional 300 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses | Rachel King | January 5, 2021 | FortuneFrom giving tax incentives to promising lower red tape and even freeing up industrial land “twice the size of Luxembourg,” the Modi government has made the “Make in India” initiative a cornerstone of its policymaking.
Modi’s Make in India revolution is coming at the cost of Indian factory workers | Ananya Bhattacharya | December 23, 2020 | QuartzOn housing, it’s basically a checklist of policies he went on to implement – densifying neighborhoods, cutting red tape, streamlining approval processes.
Faulconer ‘Changed the Dialogue’ on Housing, But Results Remain Elusive | Andrew Keatts | December 10, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoIf convalescent plasma works, the EUA could save thousands of lives without regulatory red tape.
What we (don’t) know about convalescent plasma treatment for Covid-19 | Katherine Ellen Foley | August 27, 2020 | Quartz
A yellow hazardous material bin placed out on the lawn, just beyond some red tape reading “Danger Do Not Enter,” left no doubt.
Sadly, its most notable achievement is to add layers of red tape and busywork to our already bureaucracy-heavy prison system.
Oversight on top of oversight and red tape on top of red tape, Christie said, was the real enemy.
Christie Finally Finds a Crowd That Doesn’t Care About Bridgegate | Olivia Nuzzi | February 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut Rogers said the new policy is instead a new level of red tape that has paralyzed the U.S. military and intelligence community.
Congressman: Obama's Drone War Rules Let Terrorists Go Free | Eli Lake | February 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe abortion battleground is becoming a fight over reams of red tape.
The Triumph of Bureaucracy Over Abortion Rights | Michelle Goldberg | September 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe gets out and does things while these fatheads stay in quarters and untangle red tape.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairBlack Hood knew what it was to be a policeman with hands bound by red tape or political intrigue.
Even for doctors to obtain it is an undertaking involving considerable red tape.
They are such illogical fools; a logical fool in an office, with a lot of red tape, is conceivable.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis StevensonIf it's an ordinary government deal, you know how many light-years of red tape are involved.
Security | Poul William Anderson
British Dictionary definitions for red tape
obstructive official routine or procedure; time-consuming bureaucracy
Origin of red tape
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for red tape (1 of 2)
Bureaucratic procedures that delay progress: “Paula had hoped to settle the inheritance quickly but got caught up in a lot of red tape.”
Administrative procedures, especially in a bureaucracy, that are marked by complexity and delay: “Red tape delayed his passport.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with red tape
Official forms and procedures, especially those that are complex and time-consuming. For example, There's so much red tape involved in approving our remodeling that we're tempted to postpone it indefinitely. This expression alludes to the former British custom of tying up official documents with red ribbon. [Early 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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