Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

redcoat

[red-koht]
See more synonyms for redcoat on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. (especially during the American Revolution) a British soldier.
Show More

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

  • 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?

  • “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
  1. (formerly) a British soldier
Show More

Word Origin

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

n.

"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.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper