variants
or less commonly red light
: relating to or being an area with many brothels or sex workers
Just inside the entrance to "Picasso Érotique," the exhibition's designer has recreated an imagined bordello bedroom as one might have existed in the red-light district of Barcelona in the era of Picasso's youth.—
Arthur C. Danto
Arthur C. DantoIn the beginning, entertainment ran more along the lines of saloons, card games and red light activities.—Jennifer Houghton
Jennifer Houghton
: a warning signal
especially
: a red traffic signal
Examples of red-light in a Sentence
Noun
the reporter took her glower as a red light and stopped asking questions
Recent Examples on the Web
Nina Burns, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
Many San Diego County cities have removed their red-light camera systems in recent years, but ones remain in Del Mar and Solana Beach.
—Barbara Henry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
Tobias Bass, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Drivers running red lights caused 750 crashes between 2019 and 2023, with 7 of those crashes being deadly, data from the City of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) shows in a release about the program sent out by Verra Mobility.
—Chilekasi Adele, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for red-light
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
The city previously operated red-light cameras, but the program ended in 2014.
—Nina Burns, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
Many San Diego County cities have removed their red-light camera systems in recent years, but ones remain in Del Mar and Solana Beach.
—Barbara Henry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
Noun
Especially not when the red light came on.
—Tobias Bass, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2026
Drivers running red lights caused 750 crashes between 2019 and 2023, with 7 of those crashes being deadly, data from the City of Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) shows in a release about the program sent out by Verra Mobility.
—Chilekasi Adele, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for red-light
Cite this Entry
“Red-light.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red-light. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
