Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

redshirt en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˈɹɛd.ʃəː(ɹ)t/ (UK)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

Calque of Italian camicia rossa, equivalent to red + shirt. In later senses with reference to the uniforms or outfits worn by such people. The fandom slang sense emerged from the tendency of red-uniformed Starfleet officers to die in episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Meanings

  1. (historical) A supporter of the Italian nationalist leader Giuseppe Garibaldi, especially a member of his thousand-man army which conquered Sicily.
    • Loyal regiments from Naples and other provinces of the mainland fought valiantly and were victorious un several skirmishes against the redshirts near Capua. 2011, David Gilmour, The Pursuit of Italy, Penguin, published 2012, page 196:
  2. (historical) A revolutionary or anarchist.
  3. (US) A college athlete who spends a year not participating in official athletic activities, but does not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years.
  4. (slang) An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.
    • I am not a goddamn redshirt! I have a purpose! 2017, 42m, in 12 Monkeys, season 3, episode 6:
    • Sensing danger, Captain Kirk decided to beam down to the surface with Spock, McCoy, and a couple of redshirts.
  5. (US) A person responsible for loading and unloading weapons, artillery, and equipment from aircraft.
  6. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of Red Shirt (“member of the UDD”).
    alt of Red Shirt
    • As armoured personnel carriers rumbled on to Bangkok's deserted streets, thousands of troops fanned out in a cordon across the city, surrounding the redshirts' fortified protest camp. 2010 May 19, Ben Doherty, “Thai soldiers arrest protest leaders in bloody 'final crackdown'”, in The Guardian:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
redshirts Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

medical redshirt

wikipedia: Star Trek: The Original Series · wikipedia: Starfleet

redshirt en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Australia) audio
  • /ˈɹɛd.ʃəː(ɹ)t/ (UK)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

Calque of Italian camicia rossa, equivalent to red + shirt. In later senses with reference to the uniforms or outfits worn by such people. The fandom slang sense emerged from the tendency of red-uniformed Starfleet officers to die in episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Meanings

  1. (US, qualifier: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.
    • Being asked whether I was going to be redshirted had some status associated with it. 2004, George R. Mills -, A View from the Bench, →ISBN:
  2. (US, qualifier: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.
    • 1985, March 1, "Some Educators Oppose Redshirting 5-Year-Olds," The Omaha World-Herald 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.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
redshirting Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
redshirts Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
redshirted Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
redshirted Tense=Past lexicographic

Relateds

redskirt

wikipedia: Star Trek: The Original Series · wikipedia: Starfleet