red (redirected from Better dead than red)

be in the red

to owe money to a bank. Many of the students were in the red at the end of their first year.

be like a red rag to a bull

if a statement or an action is like a red rag to a bull, it makes someone very angry. For Claire, the suggestion of a women-only committee was like a red rag to a bull.

See also: bull, like, rag

be on full/red alert

if soldiers are on full alert, they know that a situation is dangerous and are prepared to act immediately if necessary. The British flagship in the area went to battle stations and remained on full alert for twenty minutes.

See also: alert, full

be put on full/red alert

be on full/red alert - if soldiers are on full alert, they know that a situation is dangerous and are prepared to act immediately if necessary. The army was put on red alert as the peace talks began to break down.

See also: alert, full

catch someone red-handed

to discover someone doing something illegal or wrong. I caught him red-handed trying to break into my car. (often + doing something)

See also: catch

go beet red (American, American)

to become very red in the face, usually because you are embarrassed. I only had to smile at him and he went beet red.

go beetroot (red) (British & Australian, British & Australian)

to become very red in the face, usually because you are embarrassed. Whenever the kids asked him about his girlfriend he'd go beetroot.

paint the town red (informal)

to go out and enjoy yourself in the evening, often drinking a lot of alcohol and dancing. Jack finished his exams today so he's gone out to paint the town red.

See also: paint, town

not a red cent (American, informal)

no money at all. I did all that work for them and they didn't pay me a red cent! It turns out his paintings aren't worth a red cent.

See also: cent

a red eye (American, informal)

a flight that leaves late at night and arrives early the next morning. We took the red eye from Seattle to New York.

See also: eye

red eye (American, very informal)

cheap whiskey (= strong alcoholic drink). The man was leaning against the wall, swigging from a bottle of red eye.

See also: eye

a red herring

something that takes people's attention away from the main subject being talked or written about. About halfway through the book it looked as though the butler was the murderer, but that turned out to be a red herring.

red tape

official rules which do not seem necessary and make things happen very slowly. My passport application has been held up by red tape.

See also: tape

red-blooded

a red-blooded man has a lot of energy and enjoys sex very much. He's a normal, red-blooded male - of course he wants to sleep with you!

the red-carpet treatment

roll out the red carpet - to give an important person a special welcome. She was given the red-carpet treatment in Japan where her books are extremely popular.

red-eye

a red eye - a flight that leaves late at night and arrives early the next morning. There's a red-eye flight to Los Angeles leaving at 10pm. (always before noun)

red-hot (informal)

very exciting or successful. British athletes are red-hot at the moment. Their divorce is the red-hot story in this morning's press.

a red-letter day

a day that is very important or very special. The day our daughter was born was a real red-letter day for us.

See also: day

the red-light district

the part of a city where many people offer sex for money. A prostitute was found murdered in the city's red-light district last night.

roll out the red carpet

to give an important person a special welcome. The red carpet was rolled out for the President's visit.

See also: carpet, roll

see red

to become very angry. When he laughed in my face, I just saw red.

See also: see

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in the red

experiencing the situation of spending more money than you earned. Tourism is down and many hotels are operating in the red. The phone company found itself about $1.8 billion in the red.

roll out the red carpet (for someone)

to give a special welcome to someone important. This city has rolled out the red carpet for women's fashion buyers and the media.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of red carpet (= a thick red covering for a floor or other surface that is put down for important guests to walk on)

See also: carpet, roll

see red

to become very angry. Some Internet customers are seeing red as a result of the new virus that slowed Web traffic last week.

See also: see