Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or being the British universities other than Oxford and Cambridge.
Wiktionary
- adj. of, or relating to a red brick university
- adj. made of red brick
WordNet 3.0
- adj. of or relating to British universities founded in the late 19th century or the 20th century
Etymologies
- So-called because many of the buildings of such universities were built of red bricks. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“U.S. Forces Korea and its attendant bureaucracies are located in redbrick buildings that the Americans inherited in 1945 from the Japanese occupiers.”
“Students who 'avoid challenge' of traditional subjects miss out on places at Oxbridge or 'redbrick' institutions”
The Guardian: Universities admit 'soft' A-levels damage chance of top places
“Straight ahead of me lay the main quadrangle of Chase College, redbrick buildings with steep slate roofs and multipaned windows.”
Simon & Schuster: Dark Secrets 2: No Time to Die the Deep End of Fear
““Come,” he said to his dog and, scratching his bare abdomen, which had been made lean and hard by the work he did around the ranch, he padded down the hall of the nondescript redbrick ranch house and into the kitchen.”
“A block-long, redbrick beacon stood out against the night.”
“Fancy and Kit jounced along redbrick streets past low, colorful buildings.”
“They visited Novodevichy Convent, with its redbrick walls rising beside a lake and an elaborate cemetery on its grounds.”
“She was one of a group who rented the redbrick premises in Wharf Street as a local contribution to preparations for protests against the Gleneagles G8 summit in 2005.”
The Guardian: Second police officer to infiltrate environmental activists unmasked
“It was housed in a redbrick building with a steeple on top, all surrounded by lawn with a wide cement path and two short sets of stairs leading into the building, where lots of people were milling around.”
“*The Kings had bought the redbrick house with a drive-under garage and neatly fenced yard in 1965 for $10,000.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘redbrick’.
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red phrases /words
how red is used
bushy red mint, California red scale, dark red silver ore, down the red lane, Florida red scale, in red, in the red, in (the) red row, Knights of the Re..., light red silver ore, old red lammas, on red and 764 more...
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slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
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technomom's Words
misology, sacerdotal, omphaloskepsis, jimjams, incunabulum, repose, trecento, chimera, tridecennary, tenebrous, purblind, floruit and 207 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...
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R is for Red Clown
My R Words
rabble-rouser, rabblerouser, red clown, rabblerousing, ragamuffin, rama lama ding dong, rapscallion, rascal, ratfink, red herring, red rover, renegade and 39 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for redbrick.
yarb Reading is a redbrick, although one of the shabbier ones. Jan 22, 2008
sionnach I associate the term redbrick with the University of Reading. Which is well-regarded, and was given its charter between the two world wars. Suggesting that AWAD is indeed off the mark on this one. Jan 22, 2008
asativum Oh dear. Is this the start of a Wikipedia-A.Word.A.Day smackdown? I'll get the popcorn! Jan 22, 2008
yarb Not quite, AWAD. Wordnet is correct. Redbrick universities are basically those built in England before WWII, with the exception of Oxbridge, UCL, and arguably Durham. Many of the original structures were indeed built from Victorian red brick. See Wikipedia.
Universities founded in the 60's / 70's / 80's explosion in higher education, and initially referred to as polytechnics, are traditionally looked down-upon by redbricks, just as redbricks have been traditionally scorned by Oxbridge. So in the sense of education, this word has gone from meaning "lacking prestige" to somewhat the opposite. To graduate from a redbrick university is comparatively respectable these days. Jan 22, 2008
john "Lacking prestige. The term usually describes universities. A redbrick university is one built in the UK after WWII, as opposed to the older prestigious institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge. The term is mostly used in the UK."
- A.Word.A.Day Jan 22, 2008