Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To keep (a college or school athlete) out of varsity competition for one year in order to extend the athlete's period of eligibility.
Wiktionary
- n. US an athlete who spends a year not participating in official athletic activities, but does not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years
- v. US to place an athlete in a status wherein the athlete will spend a year not participating in official athletic activities, but will not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years.
- v. US To hold a child out of kindergarten for one year in the hope that the child will do better academically and socially.
- n. fiction, science fiction An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.
- n. A person responsible for loading and unloading weapons, artillery, and equipment from aircraft.
Etymologies
- red + shirt. From the red shirts worn by such people when on duty (Wiktionary)
- From the red jerseys worn by such athletes to distinguish them from the regular players. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“From Wikipedia: A redshirt is a stock character, used frequently in science fiction but also in other genres, whose purpose is to die soon after being introduced, thus indicating the dangerous circumstances faced by the main characters.”
“A redshirt is a term essentially used for skipping a year.”
“The good news is Hill will be back next season and was granted a medical redshirt, meaning he retains two more seasons of eligibility.”
“It has worked well for both sides: The Eagles could trade McNabb and now are reaping the benefits of Vick's "redshirt" year.”
The Huffington Post: Andrew Brandt: Look Who Could Be NFL Free Agents Soon!
“Thailand's civil unrest took a new turn Saturday 4/11/09 when "redshirt" demonstrators managed to push through security forces and invade the resort hotel where ministers of ASEAN were preparing to meet.”
“Everyone who should have been a "redshirt" raise your hand.”
“This year, the line figures to make great leaps, especially if Tray Allen recovers from his injury, Mason Walters lives up to his billing and youngsters such as redshirt freshmen Thomas”
“She played in too many games to qualify for a medical redshirt, meaning she will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning next season.”
“Having missed most of this season with a knee injury, Street will be taking a medical redshirt, meaning he will have the chance to return next year and be a part of another outdoor game.”
“Training camp will be a challenge for Maclin as he tries to rip off his "redshirt" while trying to impress the coaches in reps versus veterans like Asante Samuel.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘redshirt’.
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nouns
enfleurage, fautor, mafia, haslet, chopine, sea-gate, cantillation, formicary, go-devil, Gongorism, mamzer, mazarine and 147 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Here I Dreamt I Was An Archetype
one-horse town, freckle-faced gir..., evil vizier, hardboiled detective, dark alleyway, jolly fat man, spandex-clad supe..., noble swordsman, grey-bearded mentor, redshirt, absent-minded pro..., funny animal and 78 more...
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There's a word for it
catkin, pastiche, badonkadonk, biome, omphaloscopy, pogonophobia, reptation, anathema, xyst, commodify, commoditize, monetize and 69 more...
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Words
teeter, headlong, reprobate, canard, ersatz, prevaricate, trenchant, minatory, fatuous, stultify, vitiate, fulminate and 135 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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chromatic phrases
blue movie, brown study, purple prose, rosy scenario, golden mean, eminence grise, white nights, bronze age, silver bullet, orange juice, black death, technicolor yawn and 188 more...
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a fan's dictionary
fanon, canon, trekkie, trekker, browncoat, shipping, het, slash, femslash, smut, gen, mary sue and 45 more...
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Science Fiction Double Feature
cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, sci-fi, steampunk, techsploitation, dystopia, transhumanism, posthuman, future, skiffy, comlink, transmogrifier and 38 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 redshirt.
dailyword A lot of these characters got killed on Star Trek, and they were always the security people. Oct 24, 2012
bilby A transitive verb? Wow. Just think of the fun I can have next time I open my wardrobe! Dec 12, 2009