red linen.
/ˌrɛd ˈlʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈˌrɛd ˈˌlaɪn/ 1.
a. A line marked in red on a map, representing a geopolitical boundary. Hence: a boundary of this kind.In early use frequently with reference to a line drawn by Benjamin Franklin on a map of North America to indicate the boundaries of the United States (cf. quots. 1782, 1843); in later use often with reference to crossing borders; cf. sense 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > bounding line or surface > boundary-line
score?1553
outline1648
boundary-line1679
red line?1770
?1770 Brief State Controv. between Colonies N.-Y. & New-Jersey 2 If the compound of these two lines is the true boundary of New Jersey, all the territory contained within the red lines on the map..still remains vested in the crown.
1782 B. Franklin Let. 6 Dec. in founders.archives.gov (accessed 17 June 2019) I have marked [on the map] with a strong Red Line, according to your desire, the Limits of the thirteen United States.
1843 T. C. Grattan (title) The boundary question revised; and Dr. Franklin's red line shown to be the right one.
1881 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 3 322 I must now ask you to leave the British dominions and to cross the red line on the map.
1981 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 7 May Some 4,000 Syrian troops and tanks were reported to have crossed the Israeli-set ‘red line’ in southern Lebanon Thursday in defiance of the Jewish state's repeated warnings that Syria risked war if it violated the boundary.
2012 Canberra Times (Nexis) 12 June (Final ed.) a13 Washington..imposing its will..requires striking across the previously inviolate red lines that stretched across maps marking international borders.
b. A notional dividing line between two or more things, events, concepts, etc. Now rare except as passing into sense 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [noun] > one who or that which divides
divisor1542
divider1591
divisioner1616
divident1656
dismemberer1865
red line1875
1875 Atlantic Monthly July 91/2 That hard-fought battle of the 17th of June [sc. the Battle of Bunker Hill] was the red line which unmistakably divided the new from the old.
1897 Amer. Hist. Rev. 3 133 His view of the Norman Conquest as the red line dividing into two parts the legal and economic history of medieval England.
2004 T. Scheer Lateral Theory Phonol. p. xxxvii It is also attempted to draw a red line between the area that is properly and exclusively phonological, and other domains such as phonetics and morphology.
c. A notional boundary that should not or will not be crossed; a limit or point beyond which specified actions will not be tolerated, or concessions will not be made.Frequently in political contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > boundary which cannot be passed
non plus ultra1631
ne ultraa1657
ne plus ultrac1661
red line1975
1975 Y. Allon in Mil. Aspects Israeli–Arab Conflict: Internat. Symp. 159 No one would dare shout against Holland today, or Denmark—because they know there is a red line which these two countries will never cross when it comes to Jews or Israel.
1991 Santa Fe New Mexican 21 Feb. 1/4 Major use of chemical weapons, a violation of international law, would cross a ‘red line beyond which all previous bets are off’.
2018 Daily Tel. (National ed.) (Nexis) 27 Sept. The more people I speak to on the topic of infidelity, the more inclined I am to call it a grey area rather than a red line.
2. (the) thin red line [in allusion to the red coats formerly worn as part of the soldiers' uniform (see redcoat n. 1a)] : the British army or a section of this, often with the implication of bravery or sturdy resistance against heavy odds (now chiefly historical). Frequently in extended use; occasionally without thin.The expression arose with reference to British action in the Crimean War (1853–6).
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > [noun] > British army
(the) thin red line1855
1829 W. Maginn Tales Mil. Life II. 175 The long red line of Britons is fully before the sight, like a giant stream of blood on the ripe and mellow bosom of the earth.]
1855 Times 24 Jan. 6/2 The services of that ‘thin red line’ which had met and routed the Russian cavalry.
1855 F. Duberly Let. 8 June in E. E. P. Tisdall Mrs. Duberly's Campaigns (1963) v. 147 They advance, supported by the impenetrable red line, our infantry.
1877 W. H. Russell Brit. Exped. Crimea iii. ii. 156 The Russians..dashed on towards that thin red line tipped with steel.
1935 ‘G. Orwell’ Clergyman's Daughter iv. 226 Napoleon Buonaparte..soon found that in the ‘thin red line’ he had more than met his match.
1969 Time 31 Oct. 53 England's thin red line of intellectual royalists is being overrun by ‘progressive’ reformers who deliberately sabotage old-fashioned academic virtues.
1971 Guardian 24 Feb. 10/1 Trade unionists..are beginning to give physical support to the Union of Post Office Workers as their ‘thin red line’.
1996 Holiday Which? Jan. 58/2 Among the fascinating flotsam of soldiers' lives you'll find..pipes played by the thin red line at Balaclava during the Crimean War.
2008 Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) (Nexis) 10 Feb. 1 a Much could depend on the strength of a thin red line in the state House of Representatives—the outnumbered band of 48 Republicans.
3. Ice Hockey. The red centre line of an ice hockey rink, midway between the two blue lines; (also occasionally) the goal line. Cf. blue line n. (b) at blue adj. and n. Compounds 1d.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > ice hockey > [noun] > playing area > lines midway between centre of rink and goals
red line1921
blue line1925
neutral zone1969
1921 Manitoba Free Press 28 Nov. 17/4 The pass out from the goalkeeper to the first red line—40 feet—was also adopted.
1934 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 16 Feb. 17/1 The puck dropped in back of him and Marty reached in back and tapped it over the red line for the first score of the game.
1964 F. Mahovlich Ice Hockey i. 15 A defender may pass the puck from behind his own blueline to any team mate providing his team mate is not beyond the centre-ice red line.
1996 Ice Hockey News Rev. 21 Dec. 15/2 A really good game plan, not like the old Canadian style—just throwing the puck over the red line.
4. A mark on a gauge or dial indicating a safety limit or critical point; spec. one denoting a maximum operating speed. Hence: a maximum speed; a limiting situation, a limit (esp. for the purpose of safety). Also figurative.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > graduated instruments > pin or line limit or maximum
peg1927
red line1941
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > controls and instruments > [noun] > tachometer line denoting maximum safe speed
red line1941
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > instrument panel or dashboard > tachograph > red line
red line1941
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > movement of vehicles > [noun] > maximum speed of vehicle > safety limit
red line1987
1941 Jrnl. Hygiene 41 222 Millimetre scale..graduated to that the line on the pin corresponds to the red line on the scale when the lower face of the small brass plate is 2 mm. below the slit jaws.
1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 431/1 Redline,..a red mark or line on the airspeed indicator in certain airplanes, indicating the safe maximum speed of the airplane; also a line on other indicators to indicate a danger point.
1973 Sci. Amer. Apr. 11/1 Coming down the mountain I kept the engine constantly at red-line in first, second and third gears.
1975 High Time Dec. 119/2 You can bet the pilot's pucker factor is almost at redline.
1976 R. Sabbag Snow Blind i. 9 A joint..pushed everyone's carboxyhemoglobin level to the red line, bringing on that shameful and subversive Reefer Madness.
1987 Super Bike June 68/1 Presuming that they know by now which gearing to pull.., I reckon the true redline is more like 8000 rpm.
1991 N.Y. Times 21 Apr. i. 8/5 Its level [sc. that of Lake Kinneret] is at the ‘red line’ beneath which no water should be pumped.
2007 Toronto Sun (Nexis) 25 Mar. d12 According to Honda, peak horsepower is fully realized at 13,500 rpm (redline is 15,000 rpm).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?1770