red tape
Time-consuming regulations or bureaucratic procedures.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“There's too much red tape to get the permit.”
“We need to cut through the red tape to finish this project.”
“Starting a business here is slow because of all the red tape you have to go through.”
“The hospital staff spent more time dealing with red tape than actually caring for the patients in the ward.”
“I tried to renew my passport online, but the endless red tape made the process feel impossible.”
“The aid shipment sat in the port for weeks, tangled in red tape that no one seemed able to cut.”
first recorded 17th c.
The term originates from the 17th-century administrative habit of binding official government documents with red-coloured tape. While the practice of securing legal papers in this manner was well-established in the English bureaucracy, the first recorded use of the phrase appeared c. 1658 in the publication Public Intelligencer. The physical ribbon served to keep related parchments together, necessitating a literal cutting of the tape before any official business could proceed.
- 01
bleed red ink
To suffer from severe net losses.
- 02
clap one's hands red
To clap or applaud intensely.
- 03
cut red tape
To reduce bureaucracy.
- 04
neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring
Synonym of neither fish nor fowl (“not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; also, not having the advantages of the various options”).
- 05
paint the town red
To party or celebrate in a rowdy, wild manner, especially in a public place.
- 06
play the same tape
To repeat exactly what one previously said or did.
- 07
put on the red light
To advertise oneself as a prostitute.
- 08
Red Baron
A hotshot fighter pilot.
Last updated August 10, 2026