redbait means A fish, Emmelichthys nitidus. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Etymology
From red + bait.
noun
- A fish, Emmelichthys nitidus
- Pyura stolonifera, an ascidian often used as bait by anglers.
verb
- To attack by denouncing as a Communist.“While Jack Kennedy thrived in the 1950s as a sex-crazed, drug-dependent, ailment-ridden party-boy politician, Bobby, the family’s complicated sourpuss, hooked up with the redbaiting Joe McCarthy, then spun off as a crusading and corners-cutting scourge of labor corruption.”