Meaning & use
redcoat
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableold-fashioned
A soldier of the British army in the 1700s and early 1800s, when its infantry wore bright red jackets.
Grammar: Usually written in lowercase and plural in history writing: the redcoats marched into town.
Patterns
- a regiment of redcoats
- the redcoats
A column of redcoats marched down the road toward Concord.
The colonists watched the redcoats set up camp outside the town.
In the museum, a model redcoat stands beside a musket.
nouncountableBritish
A uniformed entertainer at a British holiday camp, famous for the red jackets worn by Butlins staff.
Grammar: Written with a capital R when it names the Butlins staff: she worked as a Redcoat.
Patterns
- work as a Redcoat
- a Butlins Redcoat
As a teenager he worked as a Redcoat, organizing games for the families.
The Redcoats greeted every arriving guest with a cheer.
Several well-known comedians began their careers as Redcoats.
Word forms
| plural | redcoats |
|---|
Common combinations
- British redcoats
- British redcoats fought colonial militia at Lexington.
- redcoat soldier
- A redcoat soldier stood guard at the fort gate.
- redcoat regiment
- The redcoat regiment crossed the river at dawn.
- a line of redcoats
- A line of redcoats fired in unison.
- Butlins Redcoat
- My uncle was a Butlins Redcoat in the 1960s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lobsterback
- Lobsterback is a mocking nickname used by colonists, whereas redcoat is the neutral and more widely used historical term.
- British regular
- British regular is a more formal term for a professional soldier in the king's army, while redcoat emphasizes the uniform.
- infantryman
- Infantryman refers to any foot soldier of any country or era, while redcoat points to a British soldier in a red jacket.
- soldier
- Soldier is the general word and says nothing about nationality or uniform.
Word family
Commonly confused: redcoat or red coat?
redcoat vs red coat
Written as two words, a red coat is simply any coat that is red; redcoat as one word names the soldier or the holiday-camp entertainer.
Practice
In a book about the American Revolution, the word redcoats most likely refers to ___.
Choose one answer.
Redcoats were British soldiers, named for their red uniform jackets. The Continental Army wore mainly blue, so the first option is a tempting but wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “redcoat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.