How to Use red tape in a Sentence

red tape

noun
  • You would not believe the red tape involved in getting the required permits.
  • A lot of red tape with lawyers?
    — Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 4 June 2026
  • There's been a lot of red tape and bumps along the way.
    — Tony Peterson, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • There’s always a lot of red tape, right?
    — Sandra Barrera, Daily News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Last-minute red tape delayed things.
    — Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Why all this red tape in the way of the best and the brightest?
    — Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 6 Feb. 2024
  • At the home’s front entrance, a man stepped over the red tape.
    — Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2019
  • Even with a deal, goods trade will have more rules, more red tape and more cost.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Dec. 2020
  • But that’s where the easy part of the project ends — and the red tape begins.
    — Amy Bushatz, Anchorage Daily News, 1 May 2022
  • The changes will add red tape and restrictions.
    — Samantha Liss, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Cut the red tape to start rebuilding.
    — Teresa Liu, Daily News, 4 May 2026
  • Trade between the two countries will now have to go through more red tape.
    — The Economist, 15 Aug. 2019
  • This is where the saying comes [from] about cutting through the red tape.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 May 2020
  • Kids play in the background, as members of the crowd joke about the red tape.
    — Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 July 2022
  • There's still a lot of red tape that gets in the way of shovels hitting dirt.
    — Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The ball was made for tennis, and is tightly wrapped in red tape to add weight.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Oct. 2019
  • There has to be a way to cut through the red tape and get people back to their hometown.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Cut red tape and lower the cost of doing business.
    — Linh Tat, Oc Register, 4 May 2026
  • Twenty twenty-three could be the year red tape loses its grip.
    — Jonathan Wolfson, National Review, 1 Feb. 2023
  • Don't begin anything new or make key changes since those in charge may wrap you up in red tape.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, 22 Aug. 2020
  • And part of that is eliminating the red tape.
    — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
  • And adjusting the rules and cutting red tape is the work of years not months.
    — Julian E. Barnes, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Dowd's body was found in the blue tarp with red tape wrapped around his head, the report stated.
    — Brooke Newman, The Arizona Republic, 15 Sep. 2020
  • From the outside, this might sound like paperwork or red tape.
    — Payton Herres, STAT, 19 May 2026
  • The idea was that lower costs and less red tape would enable firms to serve clients whom banks shunned.
    — The Economist, 5 Dec. 2019
  • We are held back by lots of regulation, lots of red tape and physics and math.
    — Leonard David, Space.com, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Peskin blamed the city’s housing dearth on market forces, not red tape.
    — Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
  • This means the team knows the struggle, the red tape and also how to overcome them.
    — Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 11 Nov. 2022
  • And there's red tape that prevents them from crossing state lines to provide free care.
    — Brit McCandless Farmer, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • If left unchecked, the red tape will choke your vision — and the rest of your company.
    — Lisa Bodell, Forbes, 26 June 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'red tape.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: