reason with
to try to persuade someone by logical argument
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reasons why
Explanations or justifications for something
rebound relationship
A new relationship started soon after a previous one ends
rebus
A riddle or pun on a man's name, expressed in sculpture or painting, thus: a bolt or arrow, and a tun, for Bolton; death's head, and a ton, for Morton.
recent incision
The busy thoroughfare on the Surrey side of the Thames, known to sober people as the New Cut. Even this latter name has now been changed—if indeed the place ever was so called properly. Although to the general public the street which runs from opposite Rowland Hill’s Chapel to Westminster Bridge Road is known as the New Cut, its name to the Board of Works is Lower Marsh.
recipe for disaster
A situation or combination of factors likely to lead to failure or catastrophe
reckless youth makes rueful age
Youthful mistakes lead to regret in old age
reckon
To reckon with one's host; to make an erroneous judgment in one's own favour. To cast-up one's reckoning or accounts; to vomit.
reckon without one's host
To plan without considering someone who will be affected
reclaim one's time
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
record book
a book containing official records or best performances
recruiting service
Robbing on the highway.
Red Baron
A person who is very skilled or accomplished in a particular field
Red Biddy
A noisome and highly intoxicat- ing concoction of which cheap port is the basis, much favoured by old crones in very low-class English life.
Red Book
A directory relating to the court, the nobility, and the "Upper Ten" generally. The Royal Calendar, published from 1767 to 1893, was known by this name, as also Web- ster's Royal Red Book, a similar work, first issued m 1847.
Red Button
In the Chinese Empire a man- darin of the first class wore one of these as a badge of honour in his cap. Cp. PANJANDRUM.
Red Comyn
Sir John Comyn of Badenoch, nephew of John Balliol, king of Scotland, so called from his ruddy complexion and red hair, to distinguish him from his kinsman "Black Comyn," who was swarthy and black- haired. He was stabbed by Robert Bruce (1306) in the church of the Minorites at Dumfries, and afterwards dispatched by Lindesay and Kirkpatrick.
Red Cross
The badge adopted by all civilized nations (except those who use the Red Crescent, etc.), in accordance with the Geneva Conven- tion of 1864, as that of military ambulance and hospital services, hospital ships, etc.
red face test
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
red flag
a warning signal or indicator of a potential problem
Red Flag
The emblem of Bolshevism, Com- munism, and revolution generally. English Communists have a "battle hymn" with this title. The red flag was used during the French Revolution as the symbol of insurrection and terrorism, and in the Roman Empire it sig- nified war and a call to arms.
Red Hackle
The nickname of "The Black Watch," the regiment officially known as "The Royal High- landers." They are easily recognized by the small bunch of red feathers, known as the red hackle, which they wear on their bonnets in lieu of a regimental badge.
red herring
A soldier.
red horse
corned beef
Red Indians
The North American Indians; so called because of their copper-coloured skin; also called Redskins and red men.
red ink
Financial loss or deficit
red lane
The throat.
red letter day
A special or memorable day
red light
a signal to stop or warning of danger
Red Light District
That quarter of a large city where brothels are located, these houses being frequently indicated by a red light out- side.
red man
A term of the old alchemists, used in conjunction with "white woman" to express the affinity and interaction of chemicals. In the long list of terms that Surface scoffingly gives (Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, II, iii) "your red man and your white woman" are mentioned.
red meat
A provocative issue that triggers strong emotions or reactions
red pipe
An artery.
red rag
The tongue. Shut your potatoe trap, and give your red rag a holiday; i.e. shut your mouth, and let your tongue rest. Too much of the red rag (too much tongue).
red rider
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
red sail-yard dockers
Buyers of stores stolen out of the royal yards and docks.
Red Sea
So called by the Romans (Mare rubrum) and by the Greeks, as a translation of the Semitic name, the reason for which is un- certain; also formerly called the "Sedgy Sea," because of the seaweed which collects there.
red shank
A Scotch Highlander.
red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning
A red sky indicates fair weather at night but bad weather in the morning
red snow
Snow reddened by the presence of a minute alga, Protococcus nivalis, in large numbers. It is not at all uncommon in arctic and alpine regions, where its sanguine colour formerly caused it to be regarded as a portent of evil.
red tape
Official formality, or rigid ad- herence to rules and regulations, carried to excessive lengths; so called because lawyers and government officials tie their papers to- gether with red tape. Charles Dickens is said to have introduced the expression; but it was the scorn continually poured upon this evil of officialdom by Carlyle that brought it into popular use.
red-lattice phrases
Pot-house talk. A red lattice at the doors and windows was formerly the sign that an ale-house was duly licensed; see the page's quip on Bardolph in 2 Henry IV, ii, 2 — " 'a calls me e'en now, my lord, through a red lattice, and I could discern no part of his face from the window.
red-letter day
A lucky day; a day to be recalled with delight. In almanacs, saints* days and holidays are printed in red ink, other days in black; and only the former have special services in our Prayer Book.
redcoat
A fox.
Rede Lectureships
Sir Robert Rede (d. 1519) Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, founded three public lectureships at Cam- bridge.
redeem oneself
To regain respect or make up for a mistake
redge
gold; money
rediscover fire
to reinvent something that already exists
redtape
Official routine. A term which was much in vogue during the Crimean campaign, so famous for War Office blunderings.
reduce someone to tears
To cause someone to cry
reductio ad absurdura
A proof of inference arising from the demonstration that every other hypothesis involves an absurdity. Thus, suppose I want to prove that the direct road from two given places is the shortest, I should say, "It must either be the shortest or not the shortest. If not the shortest, then some other road is the direct road; but there cannot be two shortest roads, therefore the direct road must be the shortest.
reeb
Beer. "Top o’ REEB," a pot of beer.
reefer
A marijuana cigarette.
reel in
to successfully attract or persuade someone
reel off
Recite or list something quickly and easily
reel out
To unreel.
refer to somebody
talk or write about someone
refer to somebody as something
Call somebody by a particular name or title
reflect upon
Think carefully about something
refresh someone's memory
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.