n. & adj.
--n.
1. a brilliant red colour tinged with orange.
2 clothes or material of this colour (dressed in scarlet).
--adj. of a scarlet colour.
Phrases and idioms:
scarlet fever an infectious bacterial fever, affecting esp. children, with a scarlet rash. scarlet hat RC Ch. a cardinal's hat as a symbol of rank. scarlet pimpernel a small annual wild plant, Anagallis arvensis, with small esp. scarlet flowers closing in rainy or cloudy weather: also called poor man's weather-glass. scarlet rash ROSEOLA 1. scarlet runner
1. a runner bean.
2 a scarlet-flowered climber bearing this bean. scarlet woman derog. a notoriously promiscuous woman, a prostitute.
Etymology: ME f. OF escarlate: ult. orig. unkn.