see red

present singular third person sees red · participle present seeing red · past saw red · participle past seen red

1. idiomaticTo become enraged, angry, or infuriated.

   "So help me, God," he cried, "when I think it all over I go crazy, I see red."

   1901, Frank Norris, chapter 2, in The Octopus

   2 more examples

   Nothing but his temper, the lack of self-control that made him see red . . ., had kept Jerry out of a world championship.

   1920, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 22, in The Big-Town Round-Up

   "It makes me see red when I remember these folk, Lady This and Countess That, declaring all the comfort they have had, and then leaving those who gave it to die in the gutter or rot in the workhouse."

   1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

2. idiomaticball gamesTo receive a red card, and be dismissed from the playing field.

   Kalinic later saw red for a rash tackle on Paul Scharner before Gabriel Tamas was dismissed for bringing down Diouf.

   2010 December 28, Kevin Darlin, “West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025

   1 more example

   Diop, sometimes criticized for passive play, saw red once this season when he lashed out at a foe who kicked away his legs.

   2005 January 26, Rob Hughes, “Soccer: Trio from Senegal is having a ball”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2023, retrieved 14 Nov 2013