'Red tape' definitions:
Definition of 'red tape'
From: WordNet
noun
Needlessly time-consuming procedure [syn: bureaucratic procedure, red tape]
Definition of 'Red tape'
From: GCIDE
- Tape \Tape\, n. [AS. t[ae]ppe a fillet. Cf. Tapestry, Tippet.]
- 1. A narrow fillet or band of cotton or linen; a narrow woven fabric used for strings and the like; as, curtains tied with tape. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A tapeline; also, a metallic ribbon so marked as to serve as a tapeline; as, a steel tape. [1913 Webster]
- Red tape. See under Red.
- Tape grass (Bot.), a plant (Vallisneria spiralis) with long ribbonlike leaves, growing in fresh or brackish water; -- called also fresh-water eelgrass, and, in Maryland, wild celery.
- Tape needle. See Bodkin, n., 4. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'red tape'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- afterthought,
- beadledom,
- beat,
- beaten path,
- bind,
- block,
- blockage,
- bumbledom,
- bureaucracy,
- bureaucratic delay,
- bureaucratism,
- chinoiserie,
- daily grind,
- delay,
- delayage,
- delayed reaction,
- detention,
- double take,
- dragging,
- grind,
- groove,
- halt,
- hang-up,
- hindrance,
- holdup,
- interim,
- jam,
- jog trot,
- lag,
- lagging,
- logjam,
- moratorium,
- obstruction,
- official jargon,
- officialism,
- paperasserie,
- pause,
- red-tapeism,
- red-tapery,
- reprieve,
- respite,
- retardance,
- retardation,
- round,
- routine,
- run,
- rut,
- slow-up,
- slowdown,
- slowness,
- squirrel cage,
- stay,
- stay of execution,
- stop,
- stoppage,
- suspension,
- tie-up,
- time lag,
- track,
- treadmill,
- wait,
- well-worn groove