redshirting

Verb

redshirt (third-person singular simple present redshirts, present participle redshirting, simple past and past participle redshirted)

1. (US, collegiate sports) 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.
   • The university decided to redshirt the freshman linebacker to give him an extra year to build up his bulk.
2. (US, collegiate sports) To take on a status wherein one will spend a year not participating in official athletic activities.
   • Hillman, who had come to Indiana without a scholarship (he now had one) from a Los Angeles suburb, wanted to redshirt so that he would have two years of eligibility left after Alford graduated. Smith didn't want to redshirt, he wanted to play.2012 -, John Feinstein, Season on the Brink, →ISBN, page 62
3. (US) To hold a child out of kindergarten for one year in the hope that the child will do better academically and socially.
   • Parents who redshirt their 5-year-olds instead of enrolling them in kindergarten are a concern to some Nebraska educators who are trying to reverse the trend of holding children back until age 6 to start school.1985, March 1, "Some Educators Oppose Redshirting 5-Year-Olds," The Omaha World-Herald

See all 8 meanings of redshirt