Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective, adverb
- in the very act of a crime, wrongdoing, etc., or in possession of self-incriminating evidence: They caught him red-handed dipping into the till.
adjective
- (postpositive) in the act of committing a crime or doing something wrong or shameful (esp in the phrase catch red-handed)
1781, earlier red-hand (early 15c.), originally in Scottish legal writing, from red (adj.1) + hand (n.), presumably from the image of a murderer caught in the act, with blood-stained hands.