red

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.

   “Red can be seen as hot or angry.”

   “And although we’ve certainly seen a variety of blue shades — from periwinkle to cobalt and even Dean Cain’s indigo-washed costume from the 1990’s TV show “Lois & Clark” — Superman’s uniform is still instantly recognizable across generations. In fact, there is only one film — Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man of Steel” — in which Superman does not wear his iconic red belted trunks.”

   “Red No. 3, red No. 40, blue No. 2 and green No. 3 all have been linked with cancer or tumors in animals. Other sources say red No. 40 and yellow No. 5 and No. 6 contain or may be contaminated with known carcinogens.”

2. (countable)A revolutionary socialist or (most commonly) a Communist; (usually capitalized) a Bolshevik, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.
3. (countable)One of the 15 red balls used in snooker, distinguished from the colours.
4. (countable, uncountable)Red wine.

   “A bottle of red, a bottle of white / It all depends upon your appetite / I'll meet you any time you want / in our Italian restaurant.”

   “He produced a wine key from his jacket pocket and effortlessly removed the cork from the bottle of red.”

   “59 sneak in some red Smuggle a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a corkscrew into a long matinee. Red wine is rich in life-extending antioxidants, and the caper will add zest even to a bad movie.”

5. (countable)Any of several varieties of ale which are brewed with red or kilned malt, giving the beer a red colour.

   “American reds and doppelbocks are heavy lagers as well. It really comes down to how the beer was made. Beyond that, brewers are immensely creative and have developed styles of both ale and lager that run a wide range of attributes.”

   “No other country has a brewing tradition as richly diverse as that of Belgium, with beers ranging from pleasant pale lagers to wild, winelike Flemish reds and lambics.”

6. (countable, informal)A red variety of an animal, such as a red kangaroo or a red squirrel.
7. (UK, countable, informal)A redshank.
8. (countable, derogatory, offensive, uncountable)An American Indian.
9. (countable, slang, uncountable)The drug secobarbital; a capsule of this drug.

   “What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? / She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same / Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine”

   “The big market, these days, is in Downers. Reds and smack—Seconal and heroin—and a hellbroth of bad domestic grass sprayed with everything from arsenic to horse tranquillizers.”

   ““Whatchu got, man?” / “Reds, bennies, dexies, yellow jackets, demmies.” / “Yeah, demmies're good shit, man. I pay you. Fuck. I got money. I'm hurting inside. Got beat up. Where my money?””

10. (countable, informal, uncountable)A red light (a traffic signal)

    “Stopping on the red, you're going on the green / Cause tonight will be like nothing you've ever seen / And you're barreling down the boulevard / You're looking for the heart of Saturday night”

11. (Ireland, UK, countable, informal, uncountable)Red lemonade
12. (countable, particle, uncountable)One of the three color charges for quarks.
13. (US, colloquial, uncountable)Chili con carne (usually in the phrase "bowl of red").

    “Houston visited a home in an early pioneer settlement where he was offered a bowl of red. Houston eagerly took his first large spoonful. His eyes watering, he spat out his bite […]”

14. (countable, informal, uncountable)The redfish or red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, a fish with reddish fins and scales.

    “The species Sciaenops ocellatus certainly isn’t lacking for nicknames.[…] Clear water also favors sightcasting. Against the dark background of marsh mud, a red will appear like a pumpkin — big, orange and round.”

15. (slang, uncountable)Tomato ketchup.

    “I squeeze some red out over my chips and feel guilty. Nothing is as English as Heinz ketchup in the sauce game, except perhaps HP.”

16. A Communist.

    “The 5th “Red” army corps is also making for Wuting while the 9th “Red” army corps is preparing bamboo rafts for crossing the Kin Sha Kiang (River) northwards to invade south-western Szechuan.”

    “The policeman who arrests the "Red" does not understand the theories the "Red" is preaching; if he did, his own position as bodyguard of the monied class might seem less pleasant to him.”

    “A Defense Ministry communique said 40 Communist craft were sighted Tuesday off Peikantang, a tiny island in the Matsu group, but fled when the island's guns opened fire. The Matsus are off the Red port of Foochow, opposite the northern tip of Formosa.”

    “First reports were that the Reds, in five gunboats and swarms of junks, succeeded in landing on tiny Wuchiu in Formosa Strait, but were beaten off with many captured.[…] The attack on Wuchiu, a mile-long, half-mile-wide island 15 miles off the mainland, was the first amphibious operation by the Reds since they began boasting last summer they would "liberate" Formosa.”

    “Teng left China just before the Red takeover to come to this country.”

17. A supporter of a sports team who wears red as part of their kit.
18. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of reverse electrodialysis.

adj

1. Of a red hue.

   “The girl wore a red skirt.”

   “He was wearing a red jacket.”

   “Your colour, I warrant you, is as red as any rose.”

   “The flowers glowed red and golden: snapdragons and sunflowers, and nasturtians trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.”

2. Having an orange-brown or orange-blond colour; ginger.

   “Her hair had red highlights.”

3. Having a redder hue than usual due to embarrassment, anger, sunburn, etc.; flushed.

   “[T]he sun was shining on a happy crowd. It shone on white hats and red faces. It shone on ice lollies and melted them.”

4. Having a brown color.
5. Of the hearts or diamonds suits. Compare black (“of the spades or clubs suits”)

   “I got two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.”

6. (capitalized, often)Supportive of, related to, or dominated by a political party or movement represented by the color red:

   “"Only Nixon could go to China" was the refrain of conventional wisdom during Richard Nixon’s 1972 official visit to Mao Tse-tung’s regime. Nixon’s anti-communist credentials, however dubious, provided useful camouflage as he opened diplomatic relations with Red China and made breathtaking concessions that an undisguised liberal couldn’t get away with. https://web.archive.org/web/20061114093022/http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1998/vo14no16/vo14no16_dragon.htm”

   “the red-black grand coalition in Germany”

7. (US, capitalized, often)Supportive of, related to, or dominated by a political party or movement represented by the color red:

   “a red state”

   “a red Congress”

8. (derogatory, offensive)Amerind; relating to Amerindians or First Nations.

   “All my friends are Indians / All my friends are brown and red”

9. Of the lower-frequency region of the (typically visible) part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
10. (particle)Of a red color charge.
11. Communist.

    “the Red Army”

12. Communist.
13. (dated, ethnic, offensive, slur, usually)Native American.

    “the Red race”

14. (not-comparable)red (hair color).

intj

1. Used to indicate that the speaker wishes current sexual activity to stop immediately.

verb

1. (archaic, form-of, participle, past)simple past and past participle of rede
2. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of redd.

name

1. A nickname given to someone who has or had red hair.