redcoat

See also: red coat

English

Alternative forms

• red coat, red-coat

Etymology

Bahuvrihi compound of red +‎ coat.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

redcoat (plural redcoats)

1. (historical) A British soldier.
   • 1896, A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, “[Poem] XXII”, in A Shropshire Lad, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, The Bodley Head, published 1906, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 32:

     The street sounds to the soldiers’ tread, / And out we troop to see: / A single redcoat turns his head, / He turns and looks at me.

   • 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza I, pages 48–49:

     He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; / And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon, / When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, / A red-coat troop came marching— / Marching—marching— / King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

2. A member of the entertainment staff at Butlin's holiday camps in the United Kingdom, who wear red blazers.
   • 2013 May 16, Mirror News‎^[1]:

     The series ran from 1980 until 1988, and won a BAFTA for Best Comedy Series in 1984. It was based on Perry’s experiences working as a Redcoat in Butlins.

3. (slang) A fox.
   • 1947, Pennsylvania Game News, page 30:

     Hurriedly he made his way around one end of the pond to the spot where he had first sighted the redcoat.

Usage notes

The soldier and entertainment staff uses are sometimes capitalised.

Synonyms

• (British soldier) lobsterback

Verb

redcoat (third-person singular simple present redcoats, present participle redcoating, simple past and past participle redcoated)

1. To work as a redcoat, in Butlin's. Also capital Redcoat

Anagrams

• Art Deco, cordate