Red-handed Definition
rĕdhăndĭd
adjective
In the act of committing something wrong.
American Heritage
With clear evidence of guilt.
Wiktionary
adverb
While committing a crime or doing some wrong.
Webster's New World
In an undeniably incriminating or compromising situation.
Webster's New World
Alternative spelling of red-handed.
Wiktionary
Origin of Red-handed
To be taken with red hand in ancient times was to be caught in the act, like a murderer with his hands red with his victim's blood. The use of red hand in this sense goes back to 15th-century Scotland and Scottish law. Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819) contains the first recorded use of taken red-handed for someone apprehended in the act of committing a crime. The expression subsequently became more common as caught red-handed.
From Wiktionary
Earlier red-hand with the hands red (from blood)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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