red-eye

English

Alternative forms

• red eye, redeye

Etymology

A red-eye or common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus; sense 1.1).

A common redeye butterfly (Matapa aria; sense 1.2).

The red-eye or red-eyed treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas; sense 1.3).

The red-eye cicada (Psaltoda moerens; sense 1.4).

The red-eye or red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus; sense 1.5).

The red-eye round herring (Etrumeus sadina; sense 1.6).

A highland moccasin or northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen), one of the two subspecies of copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) sometimes called a red-eye (sense 1.7).

The redeye bass (Micropterus coosae; sense 1.8).

Red-eye (sense 4) in a human eye caused by a subconjunctival haemorrhage.

A red-eye effect (sense 5) in a colour photograph.

The noun is derived from red +‎ eye; sense 2.3 (“strong but poor-quality whiskey”) and sense 3 (“overnight airplane flight”) are probably so named because they may cause people to develop bloodshot eyes.

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛdaɪ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛdˌaɪ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

red-eye (countable and uncountable, plural red-eyes)

1. (countable) Any of various animals that have red eyes.
   1. The common rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), a freshwater fish.
      • 1836, William Yarrell, “The Roach”, in A History of British Fishes. In Two Volumes, volume I, London: John Van Voorst, , →OCLC, page 349:

        The fish of Lough Neath, in Ireland, called a Roach, is in reality the Rudd, or Red-eye, Cyprinus erythrophthalamus of authors, to be hereafter described—a fish belonging to the second division of the genus Leuciscus of Klein, which has the dorsal fin over the space between the ventral and anal fins: [...]

      • , R Hamilton, “XIII. Family of Carps. Cyprinidæ.”, in A History of British Fishes, volume II, London: Hardwicke and Bogue, , →OCLC, pages 77 and 78:

        [page 77] L. erythrophthalmus. The Red-Eye or Rudd. [...] The name Red-Eye has been assigned to it from the colour of the iris; [...] [page 78] The body of the Red-Eye is deep, and the lower-jaw is the longest.

   2. Any of various grass-skippers or hesperiid butterflies of the genus Matapa.
      • 2000, Krushnamegh Kunte, “Family Hesperiidae: Skippers ”, in Madhav Gadgil, editor, India—a Lifescape: Butterflies of Peninsular India, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh: Universities Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 213, column 2:

        The Common Redeye (Matapa aria Moore) is much smaller (wingspan: 40–55 mm), plain brown without any markings, but as in the Giant Redeye its eyes are red.

   3. The red-eyed treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas), which is native to neotropical rainforests.
      • 2006, R D. Bartlett, The 25 Best Reptile and Amphibian Pets, Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, →ISBN, page 125:

        Red-eyes have large and well-developed toepads and are adept at both leaping and walking through their elevated homes.

   4. (Australia) A species of cicada, Psaltoda moerens, native to eastern Australia.
      • 2010 September, M. S. Moulds, “Three Noisy Sydney Insects – the Cicadas”, in Daniel Lunney, Pat Hutchings, Dieter Hochuli, editors, The Natural History of Sydney, Sydney, N.S.W.: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, →ISBN, image caption, page 231:

        The red eye, Psaltoda moerens, is sometimes common around Sydney where its favoured host, Angophora costata, grows. In some years populations can be immense with many thousands inhabiting just a few trees.

   5. (Canada, US) The red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), a small American songbird.
      • 1851, J G Heck, “Sub-order 3. Dentirostres, Tooth-billed Birds.”, in Spencer F[ullerton] Baird, transl., Iconographic Encyclopædia of Science, Literature, and Art. Translated from the German, In Four Volumes, volumes II (Botany, Zoology, Anthropology, and Surgery), New York, N.Y.: Rudolph Garrigue, , →OCLC, pages 550–551:

        The red-eye (Vireo olivaceus), [...] The first (the red-eye) is one of the most abundant birds in the woods of the northern states. In the spring months, he is one of the most conspicuous of our singers, and, though his notes are short, they are very musical and lively.

      • 1998 June, W Bruce McGillivray, Glen P Semenchuk, “Shrikes and Vireos”, in The Federation of Alberta Naturalists Field Guide to Alberta Birds, Edmonton, Alta.: Federation of Alberta Naturalists, →ISBN, page 196:

        The Red-eye sings with clear to slurred whistles using a variety of phrasings. It scolds with a harsh "dzur." [...] Red-eyes are common in city and town parks.

   6. (South Africa, US) Any of various round herrings of the genus Etrumeus.
      • 1986, L. V. Shannon, S. C. Pillar, “The Benguela Ecosystem. Part III. Plankton.”, in Harold Barnes, Margaret Barnes, editors, Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, volume 24, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 155:

        The egg of the round herring or red-eye Etrumeus whiteheadi (E. micropus, E. teres) is smooth, spherical (diameter around 1·4 mm) with a narrow perivitelline space and has a large lightly segmented yolk and no oil globule [...].

      • 2006, Carl van der Lingen et al., “Forecasting Shelf Processes of Relevance to Living Marine Resources in the BCLME”, in Vere Shannon et al., editors, Benguela: Predicting a Large Marine Ecosystem (Large Marine Ecosystems Series; 14), Amsterdam, Kidlington, Oxfordshire: Elsevier, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 330:

        This is probably less of a barrier to mesopelagic species such as lanternfish (Lampanyctodes hectoris), redeye (Etrumeus whiteheadi) or gobies (Sufflogobius bibarbatus), all of which are capable of more extensive vertical migration than the small epipelagic fish.

   7. (US) Either of two subspecies of the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), a venomous pit viper native to the United States: either the broad-banded copperhead or Texas copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus), or the highland moccasin or northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen).
      • , Lansing, Mich.: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., state printers, →OCLC, page 120:

        Agkistrodon contortrix Linnaeus.—Cotton-mouth, Highland Moccasin, Rattlesnake Pilot, Red-eye.]

   8. (US) Any of various sunfishes of the family Centrarchidae, especially the redeye bass (Micropterus coosae) or the rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris).
      • 1970 April, A. J. McClane, “The Sunfish Family”, in Clare Conley, editor, Field and Stream, volume LXXIV, number 12, New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 116, column 2:

        Redeyes inhabit clear-water streams with an abundance of shoals and are usually confined to headwater sections.

      • 1980 June 22, Sam Venable, “Minnow Magic: Tiny Streams Can Hold Hefty Rock Bass — If You Know Where To Search”, in The Knoxville News-Sentinel, number 30,083, Knoxville, Tenn., page D8:

        Bring back the days of cane poles and lazy summer mornings and creeks full of sassy rock bass. […] “All you gotta do,” advised Thornhill, fingering through a minnow bucket for a lively victim, “is find a hole with a redeye in it . . . like that little spot over near the bank.”

      • 1994, John Ed Pearce, “The Fatal Clash on Crane Creek”, in Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 151:

        He remembered turning over the flat rocks in the shallows to catch crawdads, remembered the sungrannies and redeyes around the ends of trees fallen into the river.

   9. The redeye tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae), a freshwater fish, commonly kept in aquariums, native to South America.
      • 1996 May 25, Mark Lawrence Storch, “Cichilds with Tetras”, in rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc‎ (Usenet):

        My roommate has a 30 gallon long tank that is currently stocked with 6 neons and about 30 red-eyes. The neons are large (as neons go) and the red-eyes are almost an inch and a quarter.

2. (countable) Types of beverages or sauces.
   1. A drink made by adding a shot of espresso to a cup of coffee.
      • 2008, Betty Hechtman, Hooked on Murder, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Prime Crime, →ISBN, page 58:

        "A red-eye, please," I said to the young woman. I waited to see whether she would recognize the drink or whether I would have to explain that it was a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso. [...] She made my drink, then his, but kept her eyes on him even as she handed me my red-eye.

      • 2012 July, Juliet Blackwell, chapter 4, in In a Witch’s Wardrobe (A Witchcraft Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Obsidian, New American Library, →ISBN, pages 32–33:

        "Morning, Lily." She handed me a Red Eye—coffee with a shot of espresso—and blew on her own soy chai latte.

   2. (Canada, regional) A drink consisting of beer with tomato juice.
   3. (US, slang) A strong but poor-quality whiskey.
      • 1967 April 29, Charles Bukowski, “[Letter to Darrell Kerr]”, in On Writing, Edinburgh: Canongate Books, published 2015, →ISBN:

        [W]hat I am trying to explain to you is that I have rather cracked grains and that a visit from you would not solve anything, especially with a jug of red eye when my stomach is gone.

      • 2010, William W[allace] Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone, chapter 16, in Savage Guns (Pinnacle Western; Cotton Pickens; 3), New York, N.Y.: Pinnacle Books, →ISBN:

        She set the bottle of red-eye on the bar, along with a tumbler. [...] I sipped, wheezed, let that first firewater slide down and start some trouble in my gut, and then sipped again. You had to ease into red-eye, and not take her all at once.

   4. Ellipsis of red-eye gravy.
      • 1986, Foreign Language:

        Patron : Well, let me have some big gravy for the biscuits and throw a little red eye on the grits. Waitress : Coffee? Patron : Yeah, black, please.

      • 2008 February 21, Marvin Inman, Next Sunday, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 131:

        He did not know how to respond to that, so he ate ham and eggs and a biscuit doused with red-eye gravy and wondered about his mother going on a date. […] He had biscuits with a little red-eye on them for Daisy.

      • 2008 April 1, Billy Yeargin, Remembering North Carolina Tobacco, Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN:

        I wash the dirt off my neck, / Put grits and red-eye on my plate, / And just as I taste my eggs, Daddy mumbles, “Well, my help's late!” / So after homemade biscuits and jelly I throw an apron across my arm, / Start down the path to the barn […]

      • 2019 February 8, Gary Allen, author of Sausage: A Global History, Sauces Reconsidered: Après Escoffier, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 120:

        In Louisiana, a variation of red-eye gravy is made with slow-cooked beef, and the coffee will, as likely as not, contain chicory. A Texan variant of Louisiana red-eye might be sweetened with honey instead […]

3. (countable, US, aviation, travel, colloquial, also attributively) An overnight airplane flight.

   I waited too late to book my holiday flight, so I had to take the red-eye.

   • 1990 January 14, Martha T. Moore, “Who flies the ‘redeyes’?”, in The Herald Statesman, volume 126, number 36, Yonkers, N.Y., page G7:

     In fact, you don't see many business travelers on the redeye — the flights that leave West Coast cities after 10 p.m. and touch down at East Coast airports around 6 a.m. […] Redeyes tend to be full of leisure travelers, budget travelers, people involved in bicoastal romances and students.

   • 1994, Tom Clancy, Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 281:

     Fortunately, most of these were former French colonies, and through a combination of quiet diplomacy and well-placed French nationals in the various air-traffic-control centers, the 300-mile-long stream of American aircraft flew the width of Africa as uneventfully as a red-eye flight from LAX to JFK.

   • 2007, Ellen Klages, “Triangle”, in Portable Childhoods, San Francisco, Calif.: Tachyon Publications, →ISBN, pages 61–62:

     The red-eye back to San Francisco was only about half full. Michael had a window seat and Willy stretched his six-foot-three inch frame out into the aisle as they waited for take-off.

   • 2014, John Glatt, “Up and Running: April to June, 1968”, in Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends, Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 136:

     He delighted in flying first class to New York on a red-eye and then putting in a full day's work. He functioned on pure adrenaline, often working twenty-hour days.

4. (countable, uncountable, medicine) Redness of the conjunctiva; especially when caused by conjunctivitis (pink-eye).
   • 2014, Andrew T. Raferty, Eric Lim, Andrew J. K. Östör, “Eye Disorders”, in Churchill’s Pocketbook of Differential Diagnosis, 4th edition, Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 126:

     Most eye disorders tend to present as ‘red eye’. It is the single most common ophthalmic complaint encountered by general practitioners.

5. (countable, uncountable, photography) Redness in the eye(s) of someone in a colour photograph, as an unwanted consequence of light from a flash reflecting off blood vessels in the retina.
   • 2009, Corey Hilz, “Making Pictures”, in Nikon D60 (Focal Digital Camera Guides), Burlington, Mass., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Focal Press, →ISBN, part 1 (The Camera), page 65:

     Use red-eye reduction when photographing people. It won't eliminate red-eye in every photo, but it's worth trying. When the D60 attempts to reduce red-eye it lights up the autofocus assist lamp on the front of the camera for about one second before taking the picture.

   • 2009, Julie Adair King, with Doug Sahlin, “Ten (or so) Fun and Practical Retouch Menu Features”, in Nikon D5000 for Dummies (For Dummies), Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, part IV (The Parts of Tens), page 282:

     If you spot a red-eye problem, however, give the Red-Eye Correction filter a try: [...] If the camera detects red-eye, it applies the removal filter and displays the results in the monitor. If the camera can't find any red-eye, it displays a message telling you so.

   • 2023 May 3, J. D. Biersdorfer, “How to Automatically Edit and Enhance Your Smartphone Photos”, in The New York Times‎:

     Red eyes in flash photos are not as much of a problem as it used to be thanks to cameras and software that better capture images in low light, but some apps like Adobe Photoshop Express still include a dedicated tool for neutralizing the demonic retinal reflection.

Derived terms

• red-eyed
• red-eye gravy

Translations

Verb

red-eye (third-person singular simple present red-eyes, present participle red-eyeing or red-eying, simple past and past participle red-eyed)

1. (intransitive, aviation, travel, colloquial) Often followed by it: to travel on a red-eye (“an overnight airplane flight”).
   • 1988 January 28, “Witnesses: Roy Sampson, Portland, Oregon”, in Enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act: Hearing Held in Washington, D.C., January 28, 1988: , : United States Commission on Civil Rights, →OCLC, page 127:

     I flew in this morning, red-eying it in last night after hearing of this hearing, because what you are doing here is something that I am particularly interested in.

   • 2004, Brenda Hunter, “What is Cancer Saying about Our Lives?”, in Staying Alive: Life-changing Strategies for Surviving Cancer: , Colorado Springs, Colo.: WaterBrook Press, Random House, →ISBN, page 25:

     When I arrived at the Center, Block's staff told me he had red-eyed it home from Alaska the night before; he had been surfing fifteen- to twenty-foot waves off the coast of Alaska.

   • 2011, Glenn Kleier, chapter 7, in The Knowledge of Good & Evil, New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 37:

     And though convinced she was making a fool of herself, she'd done as the frantic monk had begged, red-eyeing to Miami, island-hopping here.

Translations

References

Further reading

• red-eye effect on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• red-eye flight on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• red eye (medicine) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• red eye (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “redeye”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.