【in red】 —

1. wearing red clothes:

• A beautiful girl dressed 【in red】 entered the room and a wave of admiring gasps and whispers followed her.

2. (coll., also: 【in red】 ink) in a bad financial position:

• We’ve got to put forth our best efforts from now till the end of the month, or we’ll be 【in red】 on the books.

3. executed or finished in various shades of red:

• The fragments discovered showed linear architectural decoration, executed 【in red】 , blue, and white.

【in the red】 — = 【in red】 2:

• If I don’t get some money from somewhere very soon, I shall be 【in the red】 .

Cf.: out of the red—(coll.) solvent; operating at a profit:

• Most of the airlines are now out of the red and profitable.