Dictionary.com

redshift

or red shift

[ red-shift ]
/ ˈrɛdˌʃɪft /
Save This Word!
noun Astronomy.
a shift toward longer wavelengths of the spectral lines emitted by a celestial object that is caused by the object moving away from the earth.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.
His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Compare cosmological redshift, Doppler effect, gravitational redshift.

Origin of redshift

First recorded in 1920–25; red1 + shift

Words nearby redshift

Red Sea, parting of the, red seaweed, red setter, redshank, red shanks, redshift, redshifted, redshirt, redshirting, red-short, red-shouldered hawk
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use redshift in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for redshift

redshift
/ (ˈredˌʃɪft) /
noun
a shift in the lines of the spectrum of an astronomical object towards a longer wavelength (the red end of an optical spectrum), relative to the wavelength of these lines in the terrestrial spectrum, usually as a result of the Doppler effect caused by the recession of the objectCompare: blueshift
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

Scientific definitions for redshift

red shift
See under Doppler effect.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for redshift

red shift

In physics, the reddening of light sent out by an object that is moving away from an observer. (See Doppler effect.)

notes for red shift

The red shift that can be observed in light from distant galaxies suggests that the universe is expanding, and thus supports the Big Bang theory.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
FEEDBACK