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red tape
noun
- excessive formality and routine required before official action can be taken.
red tape
noun
- obstructive official routine or procedure; time-consuming bureaucracy
red tape
1- Bureaucratic procedures that delay progress: “Paula had hoped to settle the inheritance quickly but got caught up in a lot of red tape.”
red tape
2- Administrative procedures, especially in a bureaucracy , that are marked by complexity and delay: “Red tape delayed his passport.”
Other Word Forms
- ti noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of red tape1
Word History and Origins
Origin of red tape1
Idioms and Phrases
Official forms and procedures, especially those that are complex and time-consuming. For example, There's so much red tape involved in approving our remodeling that we're tempted to postpone it indefinitely . This expression alludes to the former British custom of tying up official documents with red ribbon. [Early 1800s]Example Sentences
Zeldin and other Trump administration officials say rolling back these environmental protections will save taxpayers money and reduce red tape that is hampering energy independence.
Others wondered whether it was a grand conspiracy by someone who wanted the trees down but didn’t want to go through the red tape of city bureaucracy.
Bass, as part of her effort to reduce homelessness, has cut red tape for certain types of affordable housing projects.
On housing, Poilievre vowed to cut taxes and red tape that he says act as a barrier to home building.
The word is that the UK and EU would like a "high ambition-high alignment" reset that rids food and farm exports of most red tape.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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