Idiom
put on the red light
Meaning
To advertise oneself as a prostitute.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“She was forced to put on the red light to survive.”
“The desperate woman had to put on the red light just to pay her rent.”
“In the darkest corners of the city, many women were driven by poverty to put on the red light.”
Examples
simple
“She was forced to put on the red light to survive.”
contextual
“The desperate woman had to put on the red light just to pay her rent.”
complex
“In the darkest corners of the city, many women were driven by poverty to put on the red light.”
Origin
Derived from the tradition of placing a red light in the windows of establishments involved in the sex trade. The practice provided a visual indicator for those seeking such services and subsequently informed the designation of the red-light district.
Key words
Related idioms
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