redcoat

[red-koht]

noun

(especially during the American Revolution) a British soldier.

Origin of redcoat

First recorded in 1510–20; red¹ + coat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for redcoat

Historical Examples of redcoat

He felt confident he could do so, if he could succeed in taking the redcoat by surprise.
The Dare Boys of 1776
Stephen Angus Cox
The redcoat pickets had evidently retreated to the British encampment.
The Dare Boys of 1776
Stephen Angus Cox
You were not hit by the bullet from the redcoat's musket, Dick?
The Dare Boys of 1776
Stephen Angus Cox
And do you wonder I have hated the sight of a redcoat ever since?
Daughters of the Revolution and Their Times
Charles Carleton Coffin
“Scotchie” was barking fiercely as if he resented the sight of the redcoat.
A Little Maid of Ticonderoga
Alice Turner Curtis

British Dictionary definitions for redcoat

redcoat

noun

(formerly) a British soldier

Word Origin for redcoat

C16: from the colour of the uniform jacket

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 redcoat

"British soldier," 1510s, from red (adj.1) + coat (n.). In Britain, especially of Cromwellian troops in the English Civil War; in the U.S., of British soldiers in the American Revolution.