RED FLAG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does red flag mean? 

• RED FLAG (noun)
  The noun RED FLAG has 3 senses:

1. a flag that serves as a warning signal

2. the emblem of socialist revolution

3. something that irritates or demands immediate action

  Familiarity information: RED FLAG used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RED FLAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A flag that serves as a warning signal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

we didn't swim at the beach because the red flag was up

Hypernyms ("red flag" is a kind of...):

alarm; alarum; alert; warning signal (an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger)

flag; signal flag (a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The emblem of socialist revolution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("red flag" is a kind of...):

allegory; emblem (a visible symbol representing an abstract idea)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something that irritates or demands immediate action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

doing that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull

Hypernyms ("red flag" is a kind of...):

annoyance; annoying; irritation; vexation (the act of troubling or annoying someone)

 Context examples 

Several other men had dropped in, and the air was thick with tobacco smoke, when Brissenden waved the red flag.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Households with at least one unvaccinated person were asked to place a red flag somewhere visible.

(Samoan government temporarily shuts down for nationwide measles vaccination drive, Wikinews)

By the tooth of Peter! it would be a bad thing if I could not muster many a Hamptonshire man who would be ready to strike in under the red flag of St. George, and the more so if Sir Nigel Loring, of Christchurch, should don hauberk once more and take the lead of us.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)