Synonyms

redline

American

[red-lahyn, red-lahyn] / ˈrɛdˌlaɪn, ˈrɛdˈlaɪn /

Or red-line

verb (used with object)

redlined, redlining

to treat by redlining (an area or neighborhood).
to establish the recommended safe speed of (an airplane).

The bomber is redlined at 650 miles an hour.
to draw a canceling red line through (an item on a list).
to mark or designate for cancellation, rejection, dismissal, or the like.

club members redlined for unpaid dues.
to cause (an airplane) to be grounded.

verb (used without object)

redlined, redlining

to engage in redlining.

noun

Automotive.
1. the maximum rotational speed, or angular velocity, of the engine crankshaft that is considered safe: often measured in rpm.
2. a red line or boundary of a red area that delineates such a value, as on a tachometer.

redline British

/ ˈrɛdˌlaɪn /

verb

(esp of a bank or group of banks) to refuse a loan to (a person or country) because of the presumed risks involved
to restrict people's access to goods or services on the basis of the area in which they live

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

redliner noun

Etymology

Origin of redline

First recorded in 1940–45; red ¹ + line ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They were past redline now, flying at 220 miles per hour and in danger of ripping the plane’s wings off.

From Literature

What only seems familiar: Powering out of a slow corner with the pedal pinned, the car pulling its guts out, stretching for the redline, revs quavering at the upshifts.

From The Wall Street Journal

West Altadena, home to a more racially diverse population than the town’s eastern side, stemming from historical redlining, would end up the hardest hit by the fire.

From Los Angeles Times

Its attorneys now use AI to redline new versions of contracts.

From The Wall Street Journal

This innovation goes back a ways, to Enzo Ferrari himself, who decreed that the power in his cars should always rise, linearly and proportionally, with throttle demand, from low revs to redline.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023