redshirt
redshirt Lexical Profile
redshirt Game Scores & Validity
• noun
American A college athlete who is kept out of varsity competition for an academic year in order to develop skills and extend their period of playing eligibility.
"After spending his first year on campus as a redshirt, the quarterback was ready to lead the starting offense."
A minor or stock character in a work of fiction whose primary narrative purpose is to die shortly after being introduced in order to demonstrate the danger faced by the main characters.
"As soon as the unnamed guard joined the away team, the audience knew he was just a redshirt."
• verb
American To withhold a college athlete from varsity competition for a year, or to sit out a year of competition, in order to prolong future playing eligibility.
"The coaching staff decided to redshirt the talented freshman so he could recover fully from his knee injury."
American To postpone a young child's entry into kindergarten by a year to allow for extra physical, social, or academic maturation.
"Because their son had a late summer birthday, the parents chose to redshirt him before starting elementary school."
Word Origin & Etymology
The athletic sense originated in the 1930s at the University of Nebraska, where Warren Alfson requested to practice in a plain red jersey without a number while sitting out the 1937 season to preserve his playing eligibility. The pop-culture trope derives from the original 1966 'Star Trek' television series, in which anonymous security personnel wearing red uniforms frequently died on away missions to establish danger.