Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
redcoat

redcoat

13 8.7
A British soldier who wears a red coat, especially during the American Revolution
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛdˌkoʊt/
  • Archaic
: casaca roja
  • The Redcoats are coming!

Examples

  • The next day, 4,700 Redcoats row to shore and begin to march toward Baltimore.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Uncle Sam won his independence, and old King George kept a whole army of redcoats up in Canada, just waiting for trouble.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Oh, shoot, here come a redcoat.

    Like Mike (2002)

  • - I shall never surrender to a Redcoat.

    Waiting on Mary (2016)

  • "Did we not say that we should drive the redcoats from off our land, which we have done?"

    Academic text (2014)

  • General Washington chose to winter here to prevent the Redcoats from capturing more of Pennsylvania.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Her husband fought the British, and even now she has nightmares about redcoats attacking and burning farms.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • THE REDCOATS WERE IN FULL, IGNOMINIOUS RETREAT.

    Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)

  • The local militia prepared to face the advancing redcoats as they marched through the countryside.

  • During the American Revolution, many colonists feared the presence of redcoats in their towns.

Surface Forms

redcoat singular
redcoats plural

Morphology

redcoat = red + coat (semi-transparent) = red + coat

The components 'red' and 'coat' are clear, but the conventionalized historical meaning 'British soldier' is a specialized extension beyond the literal 'person wearing a red coat'.

Etymology

The word redcoat comes from the simple parts red and coat, because British soldiers wore a bright 'red coat' as their uniform, so people called them redcoats. That's why redcoat means a British soldier, especially in the time of the American Revolution.