redaction
Americannoun
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the editing of text so as to hide or remove confidential or sensitive information.
Transcripts of the hearing will be available online once the redaction is completed.
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the text or information that has been removed or hidden.
Most of the redactions pertain to the privacy interests of the parties, including Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, and home addresses.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of redaction
First recorded in 1610–20; from French rédaction, equivalent to Latin redāct(us) + -iō -ion ( def. ); redact ( def. )
Explanation
Redaction is a fancy way to describe the process of organizing and editing something before publishing it. Your fifty-page story will need some redaction before the school literary magazine will accept it! You can use the noun redaction for the finished version of a text as well as the process of getting it into this form: "You can throw that copy away, because I've got the redaction ready for you to look at." It's also common to see redaction defined as a censored version of a document, like the redaction journalists receive from the CIA, with classified sections blacked out.
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.
She said that, as far as she knew, the department had released everything required under the law, although she acknowledged some redaction errors.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
At the hearing, Bondi faced sharp criticism over the Justice Department’s Epstein investigation — specifically over redaction errors in the release millions of case files last month.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026
While the sender of the email is redacted in the published file, the black redaction box does not completely cover his email address in one reference on the chain.
From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026
The department said it was continuing to examine new requests, as well as checking whether there were any other documents that might need further redaction.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
Palestinians and Alexandrians subjected the text to redaction; or had suffered it to fall into a state inconsistent with the assumption of its supernatural origin.
From The Canon of the Bible by Davidson, Samuel
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.
