redshirt
See also: Redshirt, red shirt, red-shirt, and Red Shirt
English
WOTD – 27 August 2006
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɛd.ʃɜː(ɹ)t/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Etymology 1
red + shirt. Derived from the red jersey commonly worn by a player meeting this definition in practice scrimmages against the regulars.
Noun
redshirt (plural redshirts)
- (US, collegiate sports) An athlete who spends a year not participating in official athletic activities, but does not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years.
Verb
redshirt (third-person singular simple present redshirts, present participle redshirting, simple past and past participle redshirted)
- (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.
- 2004, George R. Mills -, A View from the Bench, →ISBN:
- Being asked whether I was going to be redshirted had some status associated with it.
- The university decided to redshirt the freshman linebacker to give him an extra year to build up his bulk.
-
- (US, collegiate sports) To take on a status wherein one will spend a year not participating in official athletic activities.
- 2012 -, John Feinstein, Season on the Brink, →ISBN, page 62:
- 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.
-
- (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.
- 1985, March 1, "Some Educators Oppose Redshirting 5-Year-Olds," The Omaha World-Herald
Derived terms
- medical redshirt
Etymology 2
red + shirt. From the tendency of red-shirted ensigns in the Star Trek: The Original Series television program to die prematurely.
Noun
redshirt (plural redshirts)
- (fiction, science fiction) An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character.
- Sensing danger, Captain Kirk decided to beam down to the surface with Spock, McCoy, and a couple of redshirts.
- 2017, 12 Monkeys, season 3, episode 6, 42m:
- I am not a goddamn redshirt! I have a purpose!
See also
- redskirt
Etymology 3
red + shirt. From the red shirts worn by such people when on duty.
Noun
redshirt (plural redshirts)
Further reading
stock character on Wikipedia.Wikipedia