Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A warning signal.
- n. Something that demands attention or provokes an irritated reaction.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a flag of a red color, displayed as a signal of danger or token of defiance; the emblem of anarchists.
- adj. See under Flag.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the emblem of socialist revolution
- n. something that irritates or demands immediate action
- n. a flag that serves as a warning signal
Examples
“I heard that a lot of people were getting silicone injections, which offered permanent results I know; most logical people would see a big red flag there, but not me, Little Miss Gullible.”
“At Naxos the German commander surrendered by mistake; he had rowed out to greet a boat that he thought was flying the red flag of the swastika, but was in fact flying the Red Ensign.”
“If I yielded to temptation and tried it, a red flag would go up for sure, and in thirty seconds max a representative of the Department of Consumer Affairs would be at my door.”
“In Italy, students protesting inadequate facilities carried a long red flag from building to building on the University of Rome campus as the university was reopened after being closed for twelve days in mid-March because of violence.”
“When I found it, it looked like the development was right smack on top of a major break in slope, which is all it takes to raise a red flag with any geologist: it says, "possible fault.”
“I went into the living room and wrote out a two-thousand-dollar check to be applied against her registration and dormitory fees for her first semester, placed a stamp on the return envelope, and walked out to the road and stuck it in the mailbox, then flipped up the red flag for the postman.”
“Jhenda release deferred after Nitesh Rane shows red flag film Jhenda on Thursday decided to postpone the film's release after revenue minister”
“The tourist need not turn aside to seek evidences: he will very readily observe the red flag of the auctioneer floating over the slave pen, on which he may read in large letters, waving in the pure air of heaven, “SLAVES, HORSES, AND OTHER CATTLE, in lots to suit purchasers!””
“Andrew Cunningham, a zoologist with the Zoological Society of London, recently raised a red flag about new viruses emerging from global encroachment into wildlife in an essay in the British medical journal BMJ, arguing that while this has probably happened many times in the past, such viruses failed to spread because those infected lived in remote enough areas that they either died or got well before they interacted with larger human populations.”
“However, what I saw was more than a potential red flag for the Red Sox Nation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘red flag’.
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EN - coloured collocations
The bad news: There are possibly tens of thousands of colour collocations in English. The good news is that the pictures retrieved by Wordnik from flickr will probably match the terms this time.
black currant, black eye, black pudding, blue baby, Blue Beard, blue bell, blue berry, blue blood, Blue Book, blue bottle, blue cheese, blue chip and 280 more...
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red phrases /words
how red is used
red bag, red ant, red-armed, red ale, red alert, red alder, on red, red adder, in red, in the red, bushy red mint, California red scale and 764 more...
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•Open List: What's On Your Work Desk?
Name one or more of the strangest things you've ever had on or around your desk. (Coworkers don't count.) Please explain on the word page for our continuing enjoyment. :-)
Inspired by ...preserved slice o..., coffee mug shaped..., 11th-century illu..., book from hitler'..., krazy ikes, magic 8 ball, queen of tech ser..., 3 ft.-long hangin..., pickled pig lips, stapler, tennis-ball sized..., 16-channel audio ... and 100 more...
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You're a Grand Old Flag
guidon, banderole, gonfalon, pennon, ensign, banner, standard, banneret, oriflamme, pennant, jack, saltire and 64 more...
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whaling terms
Terms defined in the glossary of Clifford W. Ashley's "Yankee Whaler".
advance, adze, after house, after oar, agent, air up, alow, ambergris, apeak, article, away, bailer and 299 more...
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Colour my Wordie!
Words and short phrases with colour names in them
blackguard, black box, black market, blue moon, blue-collar worker, true-blue, blue-blooded, pink slip, tickled pink, pink elephant, white elephant, white gold and 81 more...
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Reds
Inspired by hernesheir's Greens list.
blood red, red, red-backed, redbait, red-bellied, redbird, red-blooded, redbreast, red-breasted, redbrick, red-brown, redbud and 51 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for red flag.
gangerh Why do I have a red flag on my screen whenever I'm on the home page these days? Was it decided democratically in my absence? Can't believe it's Google. Mar 18, 2009
chained_bear The red flag flies at dawn.
Seriously, I have one (actually two) of these on my work desk. They are a recently adopted office-wide signal (when placed atop the cubicle cabinet for all to see) that the person is on the phone or seriously busy and desires quiet. Jan 22, 2008