I. red 1 S1 W1 /red/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative redder , superlative reddest )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: read ]
1 . COLOUR having the colour of blood:
We painted the door bright red.
a red balloon
⇨ ↑ blood-red , ⇨ cherry red at ↑ cherry (3), ⇨ ↑ scarlet
2 . HAIR hair that is red has an orange-brown colour
3 . FACE if you go red, your face becomes a bright pink colour, especially because you are embarrassed or angry
go/turn red
Every time you mention his name, she goes bright red.
4 . WINE red wine is a red or purple colour ⇨ white
5 . like a red rag to a bull British English ( also like waving a red flag in front of a bull American English ) very likely to make someone angry or upset:
Just mentioning his ex-wife’s name was like a red rag to a bull.
6 . roll out the red carpet/give somebody the red carpet treatment to give special treatment to an important visitor
7 . not one red cent American English informal used to emphasize that you mean no money at all:
I wouldn’t give him one red cent for that car.
8 . POLITICS informal ↑ communist or extremely ↑ left-wing political views – used to show disapproval
—redness noun [uncountable]
⇨ paint the town red at ↑ paint 2 (5)
II. red 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] the colour of blood:
I like the way the artist uses red in this painting.
the reds and yellows of the trees
The corrections were marked in red (=in red ink) .
2 . [uncountable and countable] red wine ⇨ white :
a nice bottle of red
3 . be in the red informal to owe more money than you have OPP be in the black ⇨ overdrawn :
This is the airline’s fourth straight year in the red.
4 . [countable] informal someone who has ↑ communist or very ↑ left-wing political opinions – used especially in the past to show disapproval
⇨ see red at ↑ see 1 (35)