red-bait

verb

ˈred-ˌbāt How to pronounce red-bait (audio)
variants often Red-bait
red-baited; red-baiting; red-baits

transitive verb

: to subject (a person or group) to red-baiting

intransitive verb

: to engage in red-baiting
red-baiter noun
often Red-baiter

Examples of red-bait in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
So there was a version of red-baiting going on by the pro-privatization crowd. — John Surico, Curbed, 18 Feb. 2025 Still, the whitewashing of Reagan’s red-baiting remains the movie’s defining sin, and a testament to how any sense of portraiture is swamped by the petty desire to win a one-sided debate. — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2024 Steel’s campaign did not expand on the red-baiting accusations, but pointed to a previous letter to Tran that condemned his accusations that Steel wasn’t a refugee and didn’t flee communism. — Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 27 Nov. 2024 Four years later, the Bronx Democratic machine set out to vanquish Gerena-Valentin by gerrymandering his apartment out of the district and red-baiting him. — Cary Goodman, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2025 An early scene in A Complete Unknown depicts the zeitgeist shift from the red-baiting McCarthy era to the open air of JFK’s New Frontier. — Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Feb. 2025 Advertisement Most notably, in 1958, congressional conservatives pushed to rein in the Warren Court for rulings that challenged and undercut the red-baiting that characterized the era of McCarthyism. — Time, 14 Nov. 2025 Jurado won despite De León — a former political giant whose reputation went under like the Titanic after his role in the 2022 City Hall audio leak scandal — and his acolytes running a red-baiting campaign against his opponent straight outta 1934. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of red-bait was in 1938

Rhymes for red-bait

See All Rhymes for red-bait

Browse Nearby Words

red bag
red-bait
red-baiting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Red-bait.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red-bait. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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