You refer to official rules and procedures as red tape when they seem unnecessary and cause delay.
[disapproval]
The little money that was available was tied up in bureaucratic red tape.
Synonyms: bureaucracy, the government, administration, the system More Synonyms of red tape
red tape in British English
noun
obstructive official routine or procedure; time-consuming bureaucracy
Word origin
C18: from the red tape used to bind official government documents
red tape in American English
1.
official forms and routines
2.
too great attention to regulations and routine, resulting in delay in getting business done
Word origin
from the tape commonly used to tie official papers
red tape
official rules and procedures that seem complicated and unnecessary and that cause delay
Two lawyers have written a book in a bid to help people cut through the red tapewhen dealing with British immigration and nationality laws.
Examples of 'red tape' in a sentence
red tape
What we need is to be cutting red tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
So it becomes a question of which corners they cut red tape say it protects the public.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Much depends on whether the government chooses to prioritise energy efficiency or cutting red tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The proposals are likely to anger GPs who will see them as extra red tape.
The Sun (2017)
Short on red tape, low on tax.
The Sun (2016)
Just 15 per cent said that red tape was holding them back.
The Sun (2016)
Cutting red tape will help small firms and the self-employed.
The Sun (2016)
Then he'll bulldoze the system to cut taxes, red tape and reduce government.
The Sun (2016)
He said:'The cost and daunting wall of red tape puts off small builders without our resources.
The Sun (2016)
But he does have solid economic policies, including big tax reforms and cuts to red tape, which could certainly boost growth.
The Sun (2016)
What he calls red tape others might see as essential safeguards.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Smaller businesses particularly want to see red tape cut.
The Sun (2012)
Such paranoid red tape applies to academics in no other country.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The tax system he leaves is astonishingly complex, the red tape voluminous.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Seeing that red tape was holding back economic growth, she made changes to help businessand individuals.
The Sun (2013)
I wish we were as free as they are, not bound hand and foot in red tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The package has been drawn up to answer small businesses' bitter complaints about rigid red tape and seeing their cash flows drained by expensive legal bills.
The Sun (2012)
The measures to reform laws protecting the public during questioning by police are intended to secure more convictions, speed up justice and reduce police red tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Opponents of the French plans fear that they would wreck British football by imposing much tighter financial red tape on clubs.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But the general crisis in funding has prompted the Government to promise national museums more powers to shape their own destinies, free from excessive red tape.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
red tape
British English: red tape NOUN
You refer to official rules and procedures as red tape when they seem unnecessary and cause delay.
The little money that was available was tied up in bureaucratic red tape.
American English: red tape
Brazilian Portuguese: papelada
Chinese: 繁文缛节官方的
European Spanish: trámites
French: bureaucratie
German: Bürokratie
Italian: trafila
Japanese: お役所仕事
Korean: 불필요한 요식
European Portuguese: papelada
Latin American Spanish: trámites
(noun)
Definition
time-consuming official rules or procedure
They are hamstrung to red tape.
Synonyms
bureaucracy
State bureaucracies tend to stifle enterprise and initiative.
the government
administration
the system
He wants to be a tough rebel who bucks the system.
the authorities
officialdom
the corridors of power
Additional synonyms
in the sense of the system
Definition
the government and state regarded as exploiting, restricting, and repressing individuals
He wants to be a tough rebel who bucks the system.