RED


Meaning of RED in English

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)

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.