Word.ws English Dictionary

red shirt

red shirt noun: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see red, shirt. Also the alternative form of redshirt.

Noun (1)

red shirt (plural red shirts)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see red, shirt.

Noun (2) capitalized: Red Shirt

Red Shirt (plural Red Shirts)

  1. A member of the UDD (National United Front for Democracy) who supported Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (and subsequent Thaksin-affiliated parties) in the conflict in Thailand after the 2006 coup d'etat.
    • This need became clear with the emergence and conflicts between the Yellow Shirt movement (2005–13) and the Red Shirt movement (2007–present).2014, N. Kim -, Multicultural Challenges and Sustainable Democracy in Europe and East Asia, →ISBN
    • The landslide victory of Peau Thai, sweeping 53% of the seat shares, was without a doubt due to the strength of its Red Shirt supporters.2014, Pranee Liamputtong, Contemporary Socio-Cultural and Political Perspectives in Thailand, →ISBN
  2. (historical) A follower of Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian revolutionary in the later nineteenth century.
    • Garibaldi started his career as a revolutionist in Nice where he had been born. Compelled to flee to South America, he became a noted crusader for the abstract principle of liberty. He returned to Italy for the revolution of 1848 and won renown as leader of the Red Shirts.1945, Jay Monaghan, Abraham Lincoln Deals with Foreign Affairs, →ISBN, page 133
    • The Red Shirts lay there for about 15 minutes. All the while. Garibaldi was moving among his men, encouraging them, telling them to rest before the last push. At the same time, the Red Shirts could hear the Neapolitan officers telling their men to move forward and sweep the Italian patriots off...1987, Herman J. Viola, Susan P. Viola, Giuseppe Garibaldi, →ISBN, page 21
  3. (historical) A member of a paramilitary arm of the Democratic party in Mississippi and South Carolina at the end of Reconstruction.
    • His narrative suggests that psychological factors shaped his decision to become a Red Shirt. Although his Republican father was murdered by Democrats in 1870, Fleming recalled being part of a Red Shirt group that killed the man in 1876.1998, Edmund L. Drago, Hurrah for Hampton!, →ISBN
    • Earlier scholarship tried to maintain a distinction between the violence of the Ku Klux Klan and the ostensibly peaceful activities of the Red Shirts, but more recent scholarship has concluded that this was a distinction without a difference.2006, Richard Zuczek, Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era, →ISBN, page 522
  4. (alternative) Alternative form of redshirt (“expendable minor character”).
    • This strong dilemma is also a fun one, and works particularly well against players who like to use the controversial "Red Shirt" tactic of sending down small away teams to attempt dilemmas.1995, Decipher, Inc, Star Trek Next Generation Customizable Card Game, →ISBN
    • This is a question about responsibility -- Did Michael send his partner (AKA Red Shirt) into the fire zone SPECIFICALLY to be killed? He was the one who suggested to Operations that they set up a rescue attempt -- TO FAIL.1997 October 1, Judy Williams, “Verdict-Red Shirt”, in alt.fan.la-femme.nikita (Usenet)
  5. (US, alternative) Alternative form of redshirt (“sailor who handles ordinance”).
    • The Red Shirts are 'Ordies', or ordnance handlers.1997, Peter Darman, Warfare at Sea, →ISBN, page 74
    • The red lights of the Red Shirts joined the probing.1988, George C. Wilson, Supercarrier: an inside account of life aboard the world's most powerful ship, the USS John F. Kenedy, →ISBN

Proper noun capitalized: Red Shirt

Red Shirt

  1. A climbing route on Mount Yamnuska in the Canadian Rockies.
    • The accident occurred on the second pitch of the Red Shirt Route on Mount Yamnuska.1999, Accidents in North American Mountaineering, →ISBN, page 4
    • Later that summer Lofthouse and Greenwood teamed up with Heinz Kahl to climb the quintessential Yamnuska classic — Red Shirt.2003, Ben Gadd, Chic Scott, Dave Dornian, The Yam: 50 Years of Climbing on Yamnuska, →ISBN, page 42

Also used as

red shirt is also the alternative form of redshirt.

red shirt is also the alternative letter-case form of Red Shirt.

Forms of red shirt

pluralred shirts
pluralRed Shirts
alternative formred shirt
alternative formred-shirt

Questions about red shirt

What does red shirt mean?
Red shirt means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see red, shirt.
What part of speech is red shirt?
Red shirt can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of red shirt?
The plural of red shirt is red shirts.

Words near red shirt in the dictionary

  1. red shales
  2. red shank
  3. red shanks
  4. red shift
  5. red shifts
  6. red shirt
  7. red shirts
  8. red silky oak
  9. red silky oaks
  10. red silver
  11. red siskin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: red shirt (page history and authors); Red Shirt (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “red shirt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/red_shirt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.