red ball

Meanings

Noun

• A high-profile high-priority case which draws political or media attention.
• first-class cricket, as distinct from limited overs cricket (or "white ball")

Adjective

• Of or related to priority freight or the trains that carry it.

Origin

• ("high-profile high-priority" sense) From a routing system on the Santa Fe Railroad in the early 1900s. Fast freight trains which were to receive priority routing were marked with placards depicting a red disc, and were called "red ball" trains.