redactions

Meanings

1. 1nounplurallegal

   Parts of a document that have been covered or removed so that sensitive information is not seen.

   Grammar: Plural of redaction; often used with heavy or extensive.

   Patterns

   • redactions in a document
   • heavy redactions

   The released report contained so many redactions that few pages could be read.

   Journalists asked why the government had made such heavy redactions.

   The court ordered the redactions to be reduced.

2. 2nounpluralformalrare

   Edited versions or revisions of a text prepared for publication.

   Grammar: Rare, used for scholarly editing: redactions of an old text.

   Patterns

   • redactions of a text

   Scholars compared two redactions of the ancient law code.

   Later redactions added several chapters.

   The redactions of the poem differ in word choice.

Word forms

Common combinations

heavy redactions

The email chain had heavy redactions.

black redactions

Black redactions covered most of the names.

make redactions

Lawyers made redactions before release.

remove redactions

The judge asked them to remove the redactions.

redactions in the report

There were many redactions in the report.

Synonyms and how they differ

censorship

Censorship is broader and can mean control of all speech, while redactions are specific removals within a document.

deletions

Deletions can be any removal, whereas redactions are intentional hiding of sensitive details.

edits

Edits may improve style, but redactions hide information.

blackouts

Blackouts is informal and refers to blacked-out text, while redactions is the formal term.

Opposites

Word family

redaction noun

the act of hiding or editing

redact verb

to hide parts of a text

redacted adjective

having parts removed

redactor noun

a person who edits or hides text

Commonly confused: redactions or reactions?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “redactions”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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