redact
Americanverb (used with object)
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redacts,
present (3rd person singular)
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redacted,
past participle, past
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redacting
present participle
verb
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to compose or draft (an edict, proclamation, etc)
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to put (a literary work, etc) into appropriate form for publication; edit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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redactsimple
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redactssimple
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have redactedperfect
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has redactedperfect
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am redactingprogressive
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are redactingprogressive
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is redactingprogressive
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have been redactingperfect progressive
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has been redactingperfect progressive
Past
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redactedsimple
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had redactedperfect
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was redactingprogressive
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were redactingprogressive
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had been redactingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of redact
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin redāctus (past participle of redigere “to lead back”), equivalent to red- red- + āctus, past participle of agere “to drive, move, lead”; see act
Explanation
To redact is to arrange or edit text in a written document. Don't get too attached to every word in your rough draft; your teacher will expect you to redact it before handing in your final paper. Redact refers to any kind revising or editing that makes a document better, usually for publication. When you see the prefix re-, you know the word is going to refer to something either being done again or retracted. You can think of redact as redoing writing or taking back some of what was originally said. You'll often see the word redact being used with the prepositions in or into. You might take several documents and redact them into a single one.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While your mother’s bank may decide to redact certain sensitive transaction details, it cannot refuse to disclose all accounting.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
According to a report by the Washington Post, Patel has directed agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to redact the case files for public release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026
Massie has also criticized the DOJ, which he says “has failed to properly redact victims’ information while simultaneously succeeding in avoiding the disclosure of incriminated individuals,” in a statement to Salon.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2026
Though the Justice Department sought to redact sensitive information, Congress mandated disclosure in 30 days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
"The Rédacteur vill not redact long, hein?" he said presently.
From Children of the Ghetto A Study of a Peculiar People by Israel Zangwill
Officials have said they would release materials as the department reviews and redacts them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
The report redacts details of the now-deleted post, from 16 November 2023, which the BBC has seen.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
The appeal redacts their names, indentifying jurors only by their numbers from the trial.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 5, 2023
Of those, only 13 are living, and the attorney general’s report redacts their names and other identifying information.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2023
If he is applauded, he prospers and redacts; if he is hissed, he goes his ways.'
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Several areas of the report were redacted, including statements from the brothers about what transpired as they called 911.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
A second draft of the letter, dated March 4, contained altered language providing that the voter information would be “transferred” to HSI, with one exception: Voters’ party affiliation would be redacted, if possible, it said.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Most of the report given to AFP was redacted, citing privacy, national security and confidentiality concerns.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
This president’s name is no mystery to readers, but perhaps out of legal caution it always appears blacked out, as though the novel were a redacted intelligence document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
She'd seen it in the library book before it was redacted.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
But it said those factors did not explain the long delays before work on redacting the documents began and noted the "significant resources" available to the government.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
In a statement, Inspector General William M. Blier said his “preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Of those who remain, roughly 1,000 special agents and others are said to be focused on redacting materials related to the Epstein files.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2026
What they’ve done is all these haphazard redactions, redacting a bunch of things they’re not supposed to redact.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2026
There sit Robespierre and Company, embraced by Municipals and Jacobins, in sacred right of Insurrection; redacting Proclamations; sounding tocsins; corresponding with Sections and Mother Society.
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
