red light
- a red lamp, used as a traffic signal to mean “stop.”
- an order or directive to halt an action, project, etc.: There's a red light on all unnecessary expenses.
- a children's running game in which players must stop when “Red light!” is called.
- a signal of danger; warning.
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Origin of red light
First recorded in 1840–50
red-light
[red-lahyt]
- Informal. to stop or deter by means of or as if with a red light.
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Origin of red-light
First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for redlight
Historical Examples of redlight
This practice is also carried on in the other redlight districts.
The Vice Bondage of a Great City or the Wickedest City in the WorldRobert O. Harland
Only a portion of the unit Vice is kept within the limits of four redlight districts.
The Vice Bondage of a Great City or the Wickedest City in the WorldRobert O. Harland
We are standing on the shores of a lake—that lake is one of the redlight districts of Chicago.
The Vice Bondage of a Great City or the Wickedest City in the WorldRobert O. Harland
The redlight district gets its name because of the lurid, crimson signs that hang above its entrances.
The Vice Bondage of a Great City or the Wickedest City in the WorldRobert O. Harland
Those are questions that come to the mind when one enters any den of infamy in any of the four redlight districts of Chicago.
The Vice Bondage of a Great City or the Wickedest City in the WorldRobert O. Harland
red light
- a signal to stop, esp a red traffic signal in a system of traffic lights
- a danger signal
- an instruction to stop or discontinue
- a red lamp in a window of or outside a house indicating that it is a brothel
- (as modifier)a red-light district
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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