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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
red flag
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ All we needed was a red flag to warn the locals that we might be about to frighten the horses.
▪ It was a red flag, a symbol of an anti-education attitude.
▪ Volcanologists now recognize these oscillations as a red flag that a volcano is entering a dangerous phase.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Red flag

Red \Red\, a. [Compar. Redder (-d?r); superl. Reddest.] [OE. red, reed, AS. re['a]d, re['o]d; akin to OS. r[=o]d, OFries. r[=a]d, D. rood, G. roht, rot, OHG. r[=o]t, Dan. & Sw. r["o]d, Icel. rau[eth]r, rj[=o][eth]r, Goth. r['a]uds, W. rhudd, Armor. ruz, Ir. & Gael. ruadh, L. ruber, rufus, Gr. 'eryqro`s, Skr. rudhira, rohita; cf. L. rutilus. [root]113. Cf. Erysipelas, Rouge, Rubric, Ruby, Ruddy, Russet, Rust.] 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. Note: Red is a general term, including many different shades or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange red, and the like. Note: 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 admiral (Zo["o]l.), a beautiful butterfly ( Vanessa Atalanta) common in both Europe and America. The front wings are crossed by a broad orange red band. The larva feeds on nettles. Called also Atalanta butterfly, and nettle butterfly. Red ant. (Zo["o]l.)

  1. A very small ant ( Myrmica molesta) which often infests houses.

  2. A larger reddish ant ( Formica sanguinea), native of Europe and America. It is one of the slave-making species. Red antimony (Min.), kermesite. See Kermes mineral (b), under Kermes. Red ash (Bot.), an American tree ( Fraxinus pubescens), smaller than the white ash, and less valuable for timber. --Cray. Red bass. (Zo["o]l.) See Redfish (d) . Red bay (Bot.), a tree ( Persea Caroliniensis) having the heartwood red, found in swamps in the Southern United States. Red beard (Zo["o]l.), a bright red sponge ( Microciona prolifera), common on oyster shells and stones. [Local, U.S.] Red birch (Bot.), a species of birch ( Betula nigra) having reddish brown bark, and compact, light-colored wood. --Gray. Red blindness. (Med.) See Daltonism. Red book, a book containing the names of all the persons in the service of the state. [Eng.] Red book of the Exchequer, an ancient record in which are registered the names of all that held lands per baroniam in the time of Henry II. --Brande & C. Red brass, an alloy containing eight parts of copper and three of zinc. Red bug. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. A very small mite which in Florida attacks man, and produces great irritation by its bites.

    2. A red hemipterous insect of the genus Pyrrhocoris, especially the European species ( Pyrrhocoris apterus), which is bright scarlet and lives in clusters on tree trunks.

  3. See Cotton stainder, under Cotton. Red cedar. (Bot.) An evergreen North American tree ( Juniperus Virginiana) having a fragrant red-colored heartwood. (b) A tree of India and Australia ( Cedrela Toona) having fragrant reddish wood; -- called also toon tree in India. Red chalk. See under Chalk. Red copper (Min.), red oxide of copper; cuprite. Red coral (Zo["o]l.), the precious coral ( Corallium rubrum). See Illusts. of Coral and Gorgonlacea. Red cross. The cross of St. George, the national emblem of the English. (b) The Geneva cross. See Geneva convention, and Geneva cross, under Geneva. Red currant. (Bot.) See Currant. Red deer. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. The common stag ( Cervus elaphus), native of the forests of the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. It is very similar to the American elk, or wapiti.

    2. The Virginia deer. See Deer. Red duck (Zo["o]l.), a European reddish brown duck ( Fuligula nyroca); -- called also ferruginous duck. Red ebony. (Bot.) See Grenadillo. Red empress (Zo["o]l.), a butterfly. See Tortoise shell. Red fir (Bot.), a coniferous tree ( Pseudotsuga Douglasii) found from British Columbia to Texas, and highly valued for its durable timber. The name is sometimes given to other coniferous trees, as the Norway spruce and the American Abies magnifica and Abies nobilis. Red fire. (Pyrotech.) See Blue fire, under Fire. Red flag. See under Flag. Red fox (Zo["o]l.), the common American fox ( Vulpes fulvus), which is usually reddish in color. Red grouse (Zo["o]l.), the Scotch grouse, or ptarmigan. See under Ptarmigan. Red gum, or Red gum-tree (Bot.), a name given to eight Australian species of Eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus amygdalina, resinifera, etc.) which yield a reddish gum resin. See Eucalyptus. Red hand (Her.), a left hand appaum['e], fingers erect, borne on an escutcheon, being the mark of a baronet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; -- called also Badge of Ulster. Red herring, the common herring dried and smoked. Red horse. (Zo["o]l.)

      1. Any large American red fresh-water sucker, especially Moxostoma macrolepidotum and allied species.

      2. See the Note under Drumfish. Red lead. (Chem) See under Lead, and Minium. Red-lead ore. (Min.) Same as Crocoite. Red liquor (Dyeing), a solution consisting essentially of aluminium acetate, used as a mordant in the fixation of dyestuffs on vegetable fiber; -- so called because used originally for red dyestuffs. Called also red mordant. Red maggot (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the wheat midge. Red manganese. (Min.) Same as Rhodochrosite. Red man, one of the American Indians; -- so called from his color. Red maple (Bot.), a species of maple ( Acer rubrum). See Maple. Red mite. (Zo["o]l.) See Red spider, below. Red mulberry (Bot.), an American mulberry of a dark purple color ( Morus rubra). Red mullet (Zo["o]l.), the surmullet. See Mullet. Red ocher (Min.), a soft earthy variety of hematite, of a reddish color. Red perch (Zo["o]l.), the rosefish. Red phosphorus. (Chem.) See under Phosphorus. Red pine (Bot.), an American species of pine ( Pinus resinosa); -- so named from its reddish bark. Red precipitate. See under Precipitate. Red Republican (European Politics), originally, one who maintained extreme republican doctrines in France, -- because a red liberty cap was the badge of the party; an extreme radical in social reform. [Cant] Red ribbon, the ribbon of the Order of the Bath in England. Red sanders. (Bot.) See Sanders. Red sandstone. (Geol.) See under Sandstone. Red scale (Zo["o]l.), a scale insect ( Aspidiotus aurantii) very injurious to the orange tree in California and Australia. Red silver (Min.), an ore of silver, of a ruby-red or reddish black color. It includes proustite, or light red silver, and pyrargyrite, or dark red silver. Red snapper (Zo["o]l.), a large fish ( Lutjanus aya syn. Lutjanus Blackfordii) abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and about the Florida reefs. Red snow, snow colored by a mocroscopic unicellular alga ( Protococcus nivalis) which produces large patches of scarlet on the snows of arctic or mountainous regions. Red softening (Med.) a form of cerebral softening in which the affected parts are red, -- a condition due either to infarction or inflammation. Red spider (Zo["o]l.), a very small web-spinning mite ( Tetranychus telarius) which infests, and often destroys, plants of various kinds, especially those cultivated in houses and conservatories. It feeds mostly on the under side of the leaves, and causes them to turn yellow and die. The adult insects are usually pale red. Called also red mite. Red squirrel (Zo["o]l.), the chickaree. Red tape,

        1. the tape used in public offices for tying up documents, etc. Hence,

        2. official formality and delay; excessive bureaucratic paperwork.

          Red underwing (Zo["o]l.), any species of noctuid moths belonging to Catacola and allied genera. The numerous species are mostly large and handsomely colored. The under wings are commonly banded with bright red or orange.

          Red water, a disease in cattle, so called from an appearance like blood in the urine.

Red flag

Flag \Flag\, n. [Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D. vlag. See Flag to hang loose.]

  1. That which flags or hangs down loosely.

  2. A cloth usually bearing a device or devices and used to indicate nationality, party, etc., or to give or ask information; -- commonly attached to a staff to be waved by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors; as, the national flag; a military or a naval flag.

  3. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. A group of feathers on the lower part of the legs of certain hawks, owls, etc.

    2. A group of elongated wing feathers in certain hawks.

    3. The bushy tail of a dog, as of a setter.

  4. (Zo["o]l.) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called also flag feather.

    Black flag. See under Black.

    Flag captain, Flag leutenant, etc., special officers attached to the flagship, as aids to the flag officer.

    Flag officer, the commander of a fleet or squadron; an admiral, or commodore.

    Flag of truse, a white flag carried or displayed to an enemy, as an invitation to conference, or for the purpose of making some communication not hostile.

    Flag share, the flag officer's share of prize money.

    Flag station (Railroad), a station at which trains do not stop unless signaled to do so, by a flag hung out or waved.

    National flag, a flag of a particular country, on which some national emblem or device, is emblazoned.

    Red flag, a flag of a red color, displayed as a signal of danger or token of defiance; the emblem of anarchists.

    To dip, the flag, to mlower it and quickly restore it to its place; -- done as a mark of respect.

    To hang out the white flag, to ask truce or quarter, or, in some cases, to manifest a friendly design by exhibiting a white flag.

    To hang the flag half-mast high or To hang the flag half-staff or To hang the flag at half-staff, to raise it only half way to the mast or staff, as a token or sign of mourning.

    To strike the flag or To lower the flag, to haul it down, in token of respect, submission, or, in an engagement, of surrender.

    Yellow flag, the quarantine flag of all nations; also carried at a vessel's fore, to denote that an infectious disease is on board.

Wiktionary
red flag

n. 1 (context idiomatic English) A cue, warning, or alert; a sign or signal that something is wrong. 2 (context politics English) A common symbol, usually in the form of a banner, for leftist revolutionary ideologies, especially socialism.

WordNet
red flag
  1. n. a flag that serves as a warning signal; "we didn't swim at the beach because the red flag was up"

  2. the emblem of socialist revolution

  3. something that irritates or demands immediate action; "doing that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull"

Wikipedia
Red flag (politics)

In politics, a red flag is a symbol of socialism, communism, and left-wing politics; it has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution (1789–99). Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its use by the Paris Commune of 1871. The flags of several communist states, including China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union, are explicitly based on the original red flag. The red flag is also used as a symbol by some democratic socialists and social democrats, for example the Avami National Party of Pakistan, French Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The Labour Party in Britain used it until the late 1980s. It was the inspiration for the socialist anthem, The Red Flag.

Red flag

Red flag may refer to:

  • Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem
Red Flag (band)

Red Flag is a synthpop band founded in 1984 in San Diego by brothers Chris and Mark Reynolds.

Red Flag (Jericho episode)

"Red Flag" is the tenth episode of season one of the CBS drama Jericho.

Red Flag (magazine)

The Red Flag was a theoretical political journal published by the Chinese Communist Party. It was one of the "Two Newspapers and One Magazine" during the 1960s and 1970s. The newspapers were People's Daily and Guangming Daily.

Red flag (idiom)

The term red flag could mean either a literal flag used for signaling or, as a metaphor, a sign of some particular problem requiring attention.

The earliest citation for "red flag" in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1602 and shows that at that time the flag was used by military forces to indicate that they were preparing for battle.

The earliest citation of "red flag" in the sense of a warning is dated 1777 and refers to a flag warning of flood.

The term and the expression "to raise the red flag" come from various usages of real flags throughout history. The semaphore red flag (or red light) on railways means an immediate stop, while a red flag is frequently flown by armed forces to warn the public of live fire exercises in progress, and is sometimes flown by ships carrying munitions (in this context it is actually the flag for the letter B in the International maritime signal flag alphabet, a red swallow-tailed flag). In many countries a red flag is flown to signify that an outdoor shooting range is in use. The United States Air Force refers to its largest annual exercise as red flag operation. Red flags are used for various signals in team sailing races (see Racing Rules of Sailing). A red flag warning is a signal of high wildfire danger and a red flag on the beach warns of dangerous water conditions (double red flags indicate beach closure). Red flags of various designs indicate dangerous wind and wave conditions for mariners. In auto racing, a red flag indicates a stop to the race due to dangerous conditions.

A signal of danger or a problem can be referred to as a red flag, a usage that originated in the 18th century. The term "red flag" is used, e.g., during screening of communications, and refers to specific words or phrases encountered that might indicate relevance to the case. For example, email spam filters make use of such "red flags".

Red Flag (song)

"Red Flag" is the second single released from the Canadian rock group Billy Talent's EP, Red Flags and second album, Billy Talent II. The single was released on September 11, 2006, in the United Kingdom.

Red Flag was originally released in 2005 as a part of the soundtracks of a number of Electronic Arts video games, including NHL 06, Burnout Revenge, Burnout Legends and SSX On Tour. A leaked demo of the song made its way across the internet. This demo was released by Atlantic Records on the Black Sampler II. The album version is different from the earlier release, with the bridge and refrain having been changed. It has also been used in the soundtrack for the 2007 movie TMNT.

The Canadian rock music radio station 102.1 The Edge listed "Red Flag" at #145 of their 200 Best New Rock Songs of the Millennium in 2010.

Red Flag (album)

Red Flag is the fourth studio album by English-Canadian girl group All Saints. It was released on 8 April 2016, by London Records, which relaunched especially for the project. It serves as the group's comeback album, their first in nearly a decade, following the release of 2006's Studio 1, which resulted in them being dropped by Parlophone. A string of live performances and touring with the Backstreet Boys in 2014 sparked interest within the group to reform and record Red Flag. All Saints collaborated with producers K-Gee, Hutch, The Invisible Men and Utters for the album.

Red Flag was preceded by the release of " One Strike" as its lead single on 23 February 2016. The abum received positive reviews from music critics with some even considering it their best work yet. The album was a success in the UK where it debuted at number three on the album chart. To promote Red Flag, All Saints played a headlining gig at London's KOKO on 4 April 2016 and will embark on their first headlining tour in 15 years, the Red Flag Tour, in October 2016.

Usage examples of "red flag".

There was a flag waving over the fort on the peninsula - the red flag of Turkey, where no flag had flown yesterday, nor ever since his arrival in the Bay of Marmorice.

Pelt, we have a number of guard outfits scheduled to run through our Red Flag facility at Nellis in Nevada starting this Sunday, a routine training rotation.

So in this case it was not known if that taunting red flag was raised over the hospital by the enemy or by the hospital staff.

Yet the balefires atop the warcairns are lit and the red flag has been borne unto all corners of our nation, and we make ready to hurl the foe back into the sea.

He fled to England as the working men of Paris rose up as one and raised the Red Flag over the H&ocirc.

There was a flag waving over the fort on the peninsula the red flag of Turkey, where no flag had flown yesterday, nor ever since his arrival in the Bay of Marmorice.

If the ship ignored the fluttering black-and-white grinning death's head, this was followed by a red flag indicating the or else was imminent.