red Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
    redness.
  2. noun a tributary of the Mississippi River that flows eastward from Texas along the southern boundary of Oklahoma and through Louisiana
    Red River.
  3. noun emotionally charged terms used to refer to extreme radicals or revolutionaries
    bolshy; Marxist; Bolshevik; bolshie.
  4. noun the amount by which the cost of a business exceeds its revenue
    loss; red ink.
    • the company operated at a loss last year
    • the company operated in the red last year
  5. adjective satellite of a color at the end of the color spectrum (next to orange); resembling the color of blood or cherries or tomatoes or rubies
    reddish; scarlet; cherry; crimson; blood-red; cerise; cherry-red; carmine; ruby-red; ruby; ruddy.
  6. adjective satellite characterized by violence or bloodshed
    crimson; violent.
    • writes of crimson deeds and barbaric days"- Andrea Parke
    • fann'd by Conquest's crimson wing"- Thomas Gray
    • convulsed with red rage"- Hudson Strode
  7. adjective satellite (especially of the face) reddened or suffused with or as if with blood from emotion or exertion
    crimson; red-faced; flushed; reddened.
    • crimson with fury
    • turned red from exertion
    • with puffy reddened eyes
    • red-faced and violent
    • flushed (or crimson) with embarrassment

WordNet

Red
Definitions
obs.
  1. of Read. Spenser.
Red transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To put on order; to make tidy; also, to free from entanglement or embarrassement; -- generally with up; as, to red up a house. Prov. Eng. & Scot.
Red adjective
Etymology
OE. red, reed, AS. red, red; akin to OS. rd, OFries, rd, D. rood, G. roht, rot, OHG. rt, Dan. & Sw. rd, Icel. raur, rjr, Goth. ruds, W. rhudd, Armor. ruz, Ir. & Gael. ruadh, L. ruber, rufus, Gr. , Skr. rudhira, rohita; cf. L. rutilus. Cr. Erysipelas, Rouge, Rubric, Ruby, Ruddy, Russet, Rust.
Wordforms
comparative Redder superlative Reddest
Definitions
  1. Of the color of blood, or of a tint resembling that color; of the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is furthest from the violet part. "Fresh flowers, white and reede." Chaucer.
    Your color, I warrant you, is as red as any rose. Shak.
    ✍ Red is a general term, including many different shades or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange red, and the like. ✍ Red is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, red-breasted, red-cheeked, red-faced, red-haired, red-headed, red-skinned, red-tailed, red-topped, red-whiskered, red-coasted.
Red noun
Definitions
  1. The color of blood, or of that part of the spectrum farthest from violet, or a tint resembling these. "Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue." Milton.
  2. A red pigment.
  3. (European Politics) An abbreviation for Red Republican. See under Red, a. Cant
  4. pl. (Med.) The menses. Dunglison. 5. Informal name for a Communist.

Webster 1913