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redcap

[red-kap]
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noun
  1. a baggage porter at a railroad station.
  2. British Informal. a member of the military police.
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Origin of redcap

First recorded in 1530–40; red1 + cap1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for redcap

Historical Examples

  • Every castle had its tale of Redcap, the sly spirit, or of the woman of the hairy hand.

    The Gold Of Fairnilee

    Andrew Lang

  • At last the redcap got disgusted and said, ‘Miss, that thar dorg is plumdum!’

    Third Warning

    Roy J. Snell

  • Oh, it's a kind of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap!

  • Malone watched the luggage being stowed away, and followed after the redcap and its escort with mixed feelings.

    Occasion for Disaster

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • Malone punched the redcap's buttons again, and he and Boyd followed it through the crowded station to the taxi stand.

    Out Like a Light

    Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for redcap

redcap

noun
  1. British informal a military police officer
  2. US and Canadian a porter at an airport or station
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for redcap

n.

"porter at a railroad station," 1914, American English, from red (adj.1) + cap (n.). Earlier it was the name of the goldfinch, a type of hen, and a long-toothed spectre in Scottish castles.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper