bloody shirt
noun
: something intended to stir up or revive partisan animosity —usually used in the phrase wave the bloody shirt
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Robert shared two photos, one showing his partner’s busted lip and another showing a bloody shirt from the incident. 
Pilar Arias | Fox News, Fox News, 10 Aug. 2022 He was convicted of murdering her and sentenced to two life terms after evidence, including Murphy’s DNA on a bloody shirt and a fingernail, was linked to him. Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 3 Apr. 2022 Conservatives don’t like it when liberals wave the bloody shirt. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022 Joe stashes his bloody shirt under the trash can of diapers. Jessica Goldstein, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2021 Voter fraud is, of course, the bloody shirt waved by Trump, his enablers and some of the former president’s more deluded followers. Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021 At the other extreme, Bangladesh is waved as a bloody shirt in the climate wars because tens of millions live in low-lying lands subject to seasonal flooding and tropical cyclones. WSJ, 12 Oct. 2021 In the closing scene, Raquel finds Kanan’s bloody shirt under his bed. Kyesha Jennings, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2021 But doing so would require lowering the rhetorical temperature, focusing on forward-looking reforms rather than waving the bloody shirt of January 6 for partisan gain, and decoupling the issue from Democrats’ wish list on voting procedures. The Editors, National Review, 15 July 2021 See More
Pilar Arias | Fox News, Fox News, 10 Aug. 2022 He was convicted of murdering her and sentenced to two life terms after evidence, including Murphy’s DNA on a bloody shirt and a fingernail, was linked to him. Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 3 Apr. 2022 Conservatives don’t like it when liberals wave the bloody shirt. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2022 Joe stashes his bloody shirt under the trash can of diapers. Jessica Goldstein, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2021 Voter fraud is, of course, the bloody shirt waved by Trump, his enablers and some of the former president’s more deluded followers. Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021 At the other extreme, Bangladesh is waved as a bloody shirt in the climate wars because tens of millions live in low-lying lands subject to seasonal flooding and tropical cyclones. WSJ, 12 Oct. 2021 In the closing scene, Raquel finds Kanan’s bloody shirt under his bed. Kyesha Jennings, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2021 But doing so would require lowering the rhetorical temperature, focusing on forward-looking reforms rather than waving the bloody shirt of January 6 for partisan gain, and decoupling the issue from Democrats’ wish list on voting procedures. The Editors, National Review, 15 July 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1670, in the meaning defined above