ruff

en-verb

ruff (third-person singular simple present ruffs, present participle ruffing, simple past and past participle ruffed)

ruffs (present singular third-person)
ruffing (participle present)
ruffed (participle past)
ruffed (past)

[A] wooden leg and an empty coat sleeve, and fourteen poor pennies a-day, are all that I have got by allowing myself to be seduced by the cursed din of a Scotchman's bagpipe. I was once a good yeoman, in Kent, and in an evil hour went to the fair at Maidstone. The drum ruffed, and the pipe screamed in the market-place, and away I went to see what was to happen. […] I fairly forgot myself, and scarcely ever knew where I was or what I was doing, till I found myself on board a ship, and saw the olive hills and vineyards of Spain, […]

1823 February, Nalla, “Corporal Colville”, in The London Magazine, volume VII, London: Printed for Taylor and Hessey, 93, Fleet Street, and 13, Waterloo Place, →OCLC, page 136, column 1:

(transitive) To beat a ruff or ruffle, as on a drum.

If anything could have kept me awake, this cracked drum would; and, in truth, I had my fears, when, on entering my room, I heard my hero ruffing it away immediately in front of the window; but they were groundless apprehensions, though his efforts were varied and unceasing, for I undressed to the tune of the "Grenadiers' March," stepped into bed to the "Reveille," and dropped fast asleep to the first part of "Yankee Doodle!"

1836, Tyrone Power, “Trenton Falls”, in Impressions of America, during the Years 1833, 1834, and 1835. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, publisher in ordinary to His Majesty, →OCLC, page 384:

(intransitive) Of a drum, etc.: to have a ruff or ruffle beaten on it.


ruff

"Ruff, ruff!" Around the corner, a little light brown, short-haired dog came running. On seeing the little brown terrier, Annie and Marie looked at one another. Letting out a moan, Annie said, "Oh no, it's JB! I wish Joyce would take him to dog school and have him taught some manners."

2014, Suzan Kayaalp, “The Visitor”, in The Adventures of Lucky the Duck, New York, N.Y.: Page Publishing, →ISBN:


ruff

en-adj

ruff (comparative ruffer, superlative ruffest)

ruffer (comparative)
ruffest (superlative)

The Herb Pantagruelion hath a little Root somewhat hard and ruff, roundish, terminating in an obtuse and very blunt Point, and having some of its Veins, Strings or Filaments coloured with some spots of white, […]

1653, Francis Rabelais [i.e., François Rabelais], [Peter Anthony Motteux, transl.], “How Pantagruel Did Put Himself in a Readiness to Go to Sea; and of the Herb Named Pantagruelion”, in The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais Doctor in Physick, Containing Five Books of the Lives, Heroick Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and His Sonne Pantagruel: Together with the Pantagrueline Prognostication, the Oracle of the Divine Bacbuc, and Response of the Bottle: Hereunto are Annexed the Navigations unto the Sounding Isle and the Isle of the Apedefts: As Likewise the Philosophical Cream with a Limosin Epistle all Done by Mr. Francis Rabelais in the French Tongue and Now Faithfully Translated into English […] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Privately printed for the Navarre Society Limited, 23 New Oxford Street, W.C., published 1921, →OCLC, book III, pages 57–58:

Up to this time it have been an uphill bisness. The teem was a good one, and the gear all sound, and the waggin greasd, but the rode is perhaps the ruffest in the world.

1873, Bill Arp [pseudonym; Charles Henry Smith], “Nineteenth Paper: Bill Arp Addresses His Feller Citizens”, in Bill Arp’s Peace Papers, New York, N.Y.: G. W. Carleton & Co., publishers; London: S[ampson] Low, Son & Co., →OCLC, page 128:

(colloquial or obsolete) Alternative spelling of rough.


sepoy

→ Dutch: sepoy, sipoy

→ Indonesian: sepoy

→ German: Sepoy

→ Italian: sepoy

→ Swedish: sepoy

→ Finnish: sepoy

→ Turkish: sepoy

From Portuguese sipae, from Urdu سِپاہی (sipāhī) / Hindi सिपाही (sipāhī), from Classical Persian سِپَاهِی (sipāhī, “soldier, horseman”), from سِپَاه (sipāh, “army”). Doublet of spahi and sipahi.

der

If our door were in the hands of the Sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were in Cawnpore.

1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Strange Story of Jonathan Small”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 238:

They proved to be the wives of a body of sepoys, also from the 5th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry; the sepoys had perished, and their families been enslaved, when their pattamar had been captured by the Qawasim some months before.

1997, Charles E. Davies, The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820, University of Exeter Press, →ISBN, page 312:

(historical, military) A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.


shunt

From Middle English shunten, schunten, schonten, schounten, shont, shonte, shount, shounten, shunte (“to move rapidly or suddenly, jerk; to swerve, turn away; to avoid, dodge, escape, evade”), either:
* possibly a back-formation from Middle English shǒnen (“to decline to do, refuse; to abandon, forsake; to disdain, dislike, hate; to avoid, escape; to be afraid, fear; to be wary of”), from Old English sċunian, sċyniġan; see shun. Or
* an alteration of Middle English shunden, *schunden, *schinden, from Old English sċyndan, sċendan (“to hasten, hurry”) (as in āsċyndan (“to remove, take away”), from Proto-West Germanic *skundijan, from Proto-Germanic *skundijaną (“to compel, drive, push; to accelerate, rush, speed up”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(n)t- (“to rattle, shake”).
* from unrecorded Old English *sċunettan, a derivative of sċunian (“to shun, avoid”).
The English word is cognate with Danish skynde (“to hasten, hurry, speed”), Icelandic skynda, skunda (“to hasten”), Middle High German schünden (“to compel; to urge; to irritate”), Norwegian skynde (“to hurry, rush”), Swedish skynda (“to hasten, hurry; to scuttle, scurry”). Outside Germanic, compare Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “to dart, leap, spring, spurt or burst forth, ejaculate, assail, drop, split”), Albanian shkund (“to shake; to swig”).
As regards the noun sense, compare Middle English shunt (“swerve; sudden jerk”), derived from the verb.

cog

In length, this gun was the same as the French, but weighed 9 cwt. less. It was rifled in six grooves on the shunt plan, in the form in which it has been generally applied to large guns, with the difference that some of the angles of the grooving were rounded off. […] To impede fouling, a slightly greater windage was allowed in the chamber of the shunt gun, the diameter there being 0.04 greater than at the mouth of the bore.

1865 October, “Rifled Guns and Missiles”, in Colburn’s United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, part III, number CCCCXLIII, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 170:

The shunt system, of which the 64-pr. is the only example now in the service, has been considered inferior to the Woolwich, because besides being unnecessarily complicated, the grooves which are cut with abrupt sharp angles weaken the gun. […] [I]n the shunt gun, however, in addition to the mere fact of the driving side of the double groove being shallow, and the loading side deep, the two grooves join in one deep one at 2 feet 7.5 inches from the muzzle, […]

1870, Charles Orde Browne, “Section II. Muzzle-loading Armstrong, Shunt System.”, in Ammunition. A Descriptive Treatise on the Different Projectiles, Charges, Fuzes, &c., at Present in Use for Land and Sea Service, and on Other War Stores Manufactured in the Royal Laboratory, part II (Ammunition for Rifled Ordnance), London: Printed under the superintendence of Her Majesty's Stationery Office by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, […], →OCLC, page 108:

(firearms) The shifting of the studs on a projectile from the deep to the shallow sides of the grooves in its discharge from a shunt gun.


oblique fire

en-noun

oblique fire (usually uncountable, plural oblique fires)

(military) Fire whose direction is not perpendicular to the line fired at.


oblique flank

(fortifications) that part of the curtain whence the fire of the opposite bastion may be discovered.


oblique step

(military) A step in marching, by which a soldier, while advancing, gradually takes ground to the right or left at an angle of about 25 degrees.


fuse

From Italian fuso and French fusée, from Latin fūsus (“spindle”).

(manufacturing, mining, military) The mechanism that ignites the charge in an explosive device; a detonator.


troop

Attested in English since 1545, from French troupe (back-formation of troupeau, diminutive of Medieval Latin troppus "flock") and Middle French trouppe (from Old French trope (“band, company, troop”)), both of Germanic origin from Frankish *þorp (“assembly, gathering”), from Proto-Germanic *þurpą (“village, land, estate”), from Proto-Indo-European *treb- (“dwelling, settlement”).
Doublet of troupe, and possibly also of thorp, dorp, and trip. Cognate with German Dorf (“village”).

der

(military) A small unit of cavalry or armour commanded by a captain, corresponding to a platoon or company of infantry.


surrender

en-verb

surrender (third-person singular simple present surrenders, present participle surrendering, simple past and past participle surrendered)

surrenders (present singular third-person)
surrendering (participle present)
surrendered (participle past)
surrendered (past)
surrendre (alternative)

Etymology tree
Middle English surrendren
English surrender
From Middle English surrendren, from Old French surrendre, from sur- + rendre (“render”). Displaced native Old English on hand gān.

etymon

(military, by extension, transitive) To yield (a town, a fortification, etc.) to an enemy.


assault

en-noun

assault (countable and uncountable, plural assaults)

From Middle English assaut, from Old French noun assaut, derived from the past participle of the verb assalir, from Late Latin assalīre, from Latin ad (“at, towards”) + salīre (“jump”). See also assail. Spelling Latinized around 1530 to add an l.

(fencing) A non-competitive combat between two fencers.


assault

French: assaut


ballista

ballista (plural ballistas or ballistae or ballistæ)

ballistas (plural)
ballistae (plural)
ballistæ (plural)

Borrowed from Latin ballista, from Ancient Greek βαλλίστρα (ballístra), from βάλλω (bállō, “I throw”).

(weaponry, historical) An ancient military engine, in the form of a crossbow, used for hurling large missiles.

عَرَّادَة

crossbow-like military engine for hurling large missiles


breech

breech (countable and uncountable, plural breeches)

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

der

(firearms) The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber.


cataphract

From Latin cataphractes (“suit of armour”), from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “suit of armour”), from κατα- (kata-, prefix indicating a great degree or intensity) + φρακτός (phraktós, “protected; fenced in”) (from φράσσω (phrássō, “to fortify, secure; to fence in”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being).

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-cataphract.wav

Those fighting before the standards, around the standards and (otherwise) in the front line were called principes [i.e. the centurions and the other under-officers]. This was the heavy armament, which had helmets, cataphracts, greaves, shields, large swords called spathae, and other smaller swords called semispathia, [...]

1996, Vegetius [i.e., Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus], “How the Lines of the Legions are Drawn Up”, in N. P. Milner, transl., Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science […] (Translated Texts for Historians; 16), 2nd edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, published 2001, →ISBN, book II (The Ancient Legion), page 47:

Carmine streaks stained their limbs, their tunics and cataphracts; but little of the blood was theirs. They did not move like people with injuries.

2013, Stephen R[eeder] Donaldson, “Shamed Choices”, in The Last Dark (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant; book 4), New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →ISBN, page 437:

(military, historical) Defensive armour covering the entire body of a soldier and often the soldier's horse as well, especially the linked mail or scale armour of some eastern nations.

կատափրակտոս

armour for the entire body of a soldier and often for the soldier's horse as well


cataphract

The adjective is derived from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”), from καταφράσσειν (kataphrássein, “to suit in armour”) (see further at etymology 1) + -τος (-tos, “suffix forming adjectives”).
The noun is derived from Latin cataphractus (“wearing armour, mailed”), from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”); see above.

He who lookes you in the face, ſaith he ſees you, though the reſt of your bodie be within your cloathes, and if you, being an ὁωλομάχος a cataphract in your proteſtantiſh πανοπλία [panoplía, suit of armour] should for fear pull downe your beuer before you come into the liſt, your Aduerſarie for all that might light vpon your (  ) vnleſſe you bring with you Giges his ring, ſo to make your ſelf inuiſible; [...]

1635, L. I. [pseudonym; John Lechmere], “The Third Argument was about the Killing Letter; out of Origen, […]”, in The Relection of a Conference Tovching the Reall Presence. Or A Bachelovrs Censvre of a Masters Apologie for Doctour Featlie, Douai: Lavrence Kellam, →OCLC, page 333:

Immediately / Was Samſon as a public ſervant brought, / In thir ſtate Livery clad; before him Pipes / and Timbrels, on each ſide went armed guards, / Both horſe and foot before him and behind / Archers, and Slingers, Cataphracts and Spears.

1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 93–94, lines 615–620:

Lucullus also had these [the cavalry of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia] in his army at the siege of Tigranocerta; and in the battle with Tigranes made choice of them and the Thracian horse to attack the Cataphracts, the choicest of the enemy's cavalry, and to drive them from the ground.

1812, Herodotus, translated by William Beloe, Herodotus, Translated from the Greek, […], 3rd edition, volume IV, London: […] Luke Hansard & Sons, […]; for Leigh and Sotheby; […], →OCLC, footnote 155, page 127:

Ælian calls the heavy-armed infantry, ὁπλίται, hoplitæ; and the heavy horse soldiers, καταφρακτοι, cataphracti;—we denominate the former completely-armed troops, and the latter cuirassiers.— [...] The cuirassiers carried targets and used pikes. The Parthian cataphracts had also bows and arrows.

1814, Henry Augustus, Viscount Dillon [i.e., Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon], “Of the Division of Forces into Distinct Classes”, in Ælian [i.e., Aelianus Tacticus], The Tactics of Ælian, Comprising the Military System of the Grecians; […], London: […] Cox and Baylis, […], for E. Kerby, […], →OCLC, pages 19–20:

Besides the equestrian archers who fought flying, and wearied out an enemy by often renewed assaults, they had heavy cataphracts or cuirassiers clad in the steel of Margiana (a province immediately eastward of Parthia,) armed with long lances, and bearing a wonderful resemblance in all points to the chivalrous warriors of the middle ages.

1820, John Gillies, chapter XXV, in The History of Ancient Greece, Its Colonies, and Conquests: Part the Second; […], new (6th) edition, volume IV, London: […] T[homas] Cadell & W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, pages 119–120:

[...] Tacitus (Hist. I, 79) says that the Sarmatian cataphracts were rather helpless if knocked off their horses, just like the mediaeval knights. The chief difference was, that whereas the mediaeval knight was armoured all over, the cataphract had no thigh armour under his coat, I suppose because he was riding without stirrups and grip was all-important; it may have been this which led to the invention of stirrups.

1930, W[illiam] W[oodthorpe] Tarn, “Lecture II: Cavalry and Elephants”, in Hellenistic Military & Naval Developments, New York, N.Y.: Biblo and Tannen, published 1984, →ISBN, pages 74–75:

The second graffito [...], depicting a cataphract, is unique until now. He is armed with a lance having streamers(?) at its point and is protected by a complete coat of mail. He carries a conical helmet ending in a point from which hangs a piece of mesh protecting his face.

1933, M. Pillet, “General Report of the Campaign of 1930–31”, in P. V. C. Baur, M[ikhail] I[vanovich] Rostoftzeff, A[lfred] R. Bellinger, editors, The Excavations at Dura-Europos: Conducted by Yale University and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters: Preliminary Report of Fourth Season of Work, October 1930–March 1931, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, →OCLC, page 13:

The heart of the Byzantine army was the cataphract, a missile-shock soldier who functioned from horseback as an armored, mounted lancer or, with his bow, as a mounted archer. [...] The cataphract was also well protected by a casque or conical metal helmet, chain-mail armor from his neck to his thighs, and a small shield strapped to his left arm.

1990, Larry H. Addington, “War in the Middle Ages”, in The Patterns of War through the Eighteenth Century, Bloomington, Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 47:

The least numerous, but most impressive cavalry were the cataphracts. A fully equipped cataphract had a bronze or iron helmet, perhaps with neck guard, a lamella, mail, or scale cuirass with arm and thigh guards attached, leg defences of mail or laminated strips, and mail-reinforced gauntlets. The horse wore a caparison of iron or bronze scales with further armour on the neck or head.

1996, Adrian Keith Goldsworthy, “The Opposition”, in The Roman Army at War: 100 BC–AD 200 (Oxford Classical Monographs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1998, →ISBN, page 66:

A party of heavy cataphracts rode up, their horses thundering to a halt amid a cloud of dirt. The men were in full-length lamellar armour which hampered their mobility to no small degree.

2012, Peter Goh, chapter 2, in Eagle in the Land of Dragons, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 43:

(military, historical) A soldier (especially a horseman) covered with a cataphract (etymology 1, sense 1).


char

Inherited from Old French char, from Latin carrus, a loan from Transalpine Gaulish. Doublet of car (“coach”), a borrowing from English.


contingent

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-contingent.wav

From Middle English, from Old French contingent, from Medieval Latin contingens (“possible, contingent”), present participle of contingere (“to touch, meet, attain to, happen”), from com- (“together”) + tangere (“to touch”).

Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians.

2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:


dehors

(fortification) All sorts of outworks in general, at a distance from the main works; any advanced works for protection or cover.


drab

pl-noun

drab m pers (diminutive (rare) drabik, augmentative drabisko)

drabik (diminutive rare)
drabisko (augmentative)
drab (nominative singular)
drabi (nominative plural)
drabowie (nominative plural)
draby (nominative plural)
draby (derogatory nominative plural)
draba (genitive singular)
drabów (genitive plural)
drabowi (dative singular)
drabom (dative plural)
draba (accusative singular)
drabów (accusative plural)
drabem (instrumental singular)
drabami (instrumental plural)
drabie (locative singular)
drabach (locative plural)
drabie (singular vocative)
drabi (plural vocative)
drabowie (plural vocative)
draby (plural vocative)

Borrowed from Old Czech dráb, from Middle High German drabant, trabant. Doublet of drabant and trabant.

(obsolete, military) footman, foot soldier, henchman, servant


punitive

en-adj

punitive (comparative more punitive, superlative most punitive)

more punitive (comparative)
most punitive (superlative)

From Middle French punitif, from Medieval Latin pūnitīvus, from pūniō (“I punish”).

Beijing imposed punitive sanctions on Canada.

The jury awarded $10,000 in punitive damages.

(law, military) Inflicting punishment; punishing.


extension

en-noun

extension (countable and uncountable, plural extensions)

From Middle English extensioun, from Old French estension, from Latin extensiō, extensiōnem.

(fencing) A simple offensive action, consisting of extending the weapon arm forward.

ojennus

fencing: a simple offensive action, consisting of extending the weapon arm forward


feint

The noun is borrowed from French feinte (“dummy, feint”), from feindre (“to fake, feign”), from Old French feindre, faindre, from Latin fingere, the present active infinitive of fingō (“to alter the truth to deceive, dissemble, feign, pretend; to fashion, form, shape”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Italian finta
* Occitan fencha, fenha
* Old Spanish finta (modern Spanish finta (“dummy, feint”))

In October, Friburg had been taken by a Feint of the Duke of Crequi, before the Duke of Lorrain cou'd come to relieve it; […]

1683, William Temple, “Memoirs of what Pass’d in Christendom, from the War Begun 1672, to the Peace Concluded 1679. Chapter III.”, in The Works of Sir William Temple, […], volume I, London: […] J. Round, J[acob] Tonson, J. Clarke, B[enjamin] Motte, T. Wotton, S[amuel] Birt, and T[homas] Osborne, published 1731, →OCLC, page 459:

Nothing could be more uncertain than the intentions of the French marshal [André Masséna], and Lord Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] felt, that by an incautious movement, his army must be seriously committed—Massena's retreat might only be a feint to draw the allies from their position—while by turning Monte Junta, he might make a sudden rush on Torres Vedras.

1840, W[illiam] H[amilton] Maxwell, chapter XIV, in Life of Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, […], volume II, London: A[lfred] H. Baily & Co. […], →OCLC, page 222:

(often military) A movement made to confuse an opponent; a dummy.

He had some advantage in the difference of our weapons; for his sword, as I recollect, was longer than mine, […] His obvious malignity of purpose never for a moment threw him off his guard, and he exhausted every feint and strategem proper to the science of defence; while, at the same time, he mediated the most desperate catastrophe to our rencounter.

1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Rob Roy. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 251–252:

It is also possible to deliver a compound riposte by using an indirect feint. The attacking fencer would be open to a compound riposte following a successful parry by their opponent.

1999, Allan Skipp, “Key Techniques”, in Handbook of Foil Fencing, Armley, Leeds: Coachwise Business Solutions for British Fencing, published 2006, →ISBN, page 36:

(boxing, fencing) A blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.

klamný pohyb

(boxing, fencing) offensive movement resembling an attack on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part


feint

en-verb

feint (third-person singular simple present feints, present participle feinting, simple past and past participle feinted)

feints (present singular third-person)
feinting (participle present)
feinted (participle past)
feinted (past)

Genevra scowled and said, "His word is wild, / But dastard treason feinteth such disorders: / Treason or witchcraft neither, undefiled, / A Christian court may cherish in its borders."

1882, T. Alderson Wilson, “Lanval”, in Perseus and Other Essays in Verse, London: Ranken and Co., […], →OCLC, page 74:

Even Penrod's walk was affected; he adopted a gait which was a kind of taunting swagger; and, when he passed other children on the street, he practised the habit of feinting a blow; then, as the victim dodged, he rasped out the triumphant horse laugh which he gradually mastered to horrible perfection.

1914, Booth Tarkington, “The Imitator”, in Penrod, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 231:

I spurred on the Turani instead of pulling him in, and stood up in the saddle just as we came upon the two. By feinting a slash at one I made him throw up his saber to guard his head. Then, leaning down as the three ponies came together, I cut at the other's neck, getting home over his blade. His mount reared and shelled him out of the saddle like a pea out of a pod.

1924 October 10, Harold Lamb, “Forward”, in Arthur Sullivant Hoffman, editor, Adventure, volume XLIX, number I, New York, N.Y., London: The Ridgway Company, →OCLC, page 25, column 1:

To direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part.

tehdä harhautusliike

to direct (a blow, thrust, or other offensive movement resembling an attack) on some part of the body, intended to distract from a real attack on another part

Feint him—use your legs! draw him about! he'll lose his wind then in no time, and you can go into him.

1857, [Thomas Hughes], “The Fight”, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part II, page 323:

(rare) To direct a feint or mock attack against (someone).

tehdä valehyökkäys

to direct a feint or mock attack against (someone or something)

Ben-Hur feinted with his right hand. The stranger warded, slightly advancing his left arm. Ere he could return to guard, Ben-Hur caught him by the wrist in a grip which years at the oar had made terrible as a vise.

1880 November 12, Lew[is] Wallace, chapter XVI, in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, book fifth, page 387:

My assailant stood a little; in the thick darkness I could see him bob and sidle as though he were feinting at me for an advantageous onfall.

1893–1897 (date written), Robert Louis Stevenson, “Swanston Cottage”, in St. Ives: Being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1897, →OCLC, page 67:

Gomez feinted with his knife and the other man darted backward. He feinted again and the man moved to the side. The man feinted but Gomez didn't budge; he was anxious to get it on.

1984, Len Levinson, chapter 3, in Meat Grinder Hill (The Rat Bastards; 4), [San Francisco, Calif.]: AudioGO, published 2013, →ISBN:

(intransitive, boxing, fencing, also often military) To make a feint or mock attack.


feint

Borrowed from French feint, the past participle of feindre (“to fake, feign”): see etymology 1.

(boxing, fencing, also often military) Of an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike.

harhautus-

of an attack or offensive movement: directed toward a different part from the intended strike


gauge

en-noun

gauge (countable and uncountable, plural gauges)

From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.

cog

(firearms) A unit of measurement which describes how many spheres of bore diameter of a shotgun can be had from one pound of lead; 12 gauge is roughly equivalent to .75 caliber.


glans

la-noun

glāns f (genitive glandis); third declension

glāns (canonical feminine)
glandis (genitive)
glāns (nominative singular)
glandēs (nominative plural)
glandis (genitive singular)
glandium (genitive plural)
glandum (genitive plural)
glandī (dative singular)
glandibus (dative plural)
glandem (accusative singular)
glandēs (accusative plural)
glande (ablative singular)
glandibus (ablative plural)
glāns (singular vocative)
glandēs (plural vocative)
glandō (alternative obsolete)

Balkan Romance:

Aromanian: gljindã

Romanian: ghindă

Italo-Romance:

Italian: ghianda, ajjanna (Reati)

Sicilian: ghianna

Calabrian: aghianda

Padanian:

Friulian: gland, glant

Ladin: gian

Piedmontese: giand, agian, gianda

desc

Romansch: glogn, glonda, galonda, glanda

Northern Gallo-Romance:

Franco-Provençal: glland, agllan, allan, llan

Valdôtain: llande, llan

Old French: glant, glande

French: gland, glande

Southern Gallo-Romance:

Aragonese: glan

Belsetán: lan

Ribagorçan: llan

Old Catalan: glan, aglan

Catalan: gla, aglá

Old Occitan: glan, aglan

Occitan: agland (silent ⟨d⟩)

Gascon: gland

Vivaro-Alpine: gland, alhand

Ibero-Romance:

Asturian: llande

Portuguese: lande

Spanish: lande (Álava), llande (regional?)

Insular Romance:

Sardinian:

Campidanese: landi

Logudorese: lande, landa

Nuorese: grande, lande, lanne

Vulgar Latin: glandinis

Neapolitan: ghialne (Andria)

Piedmontese: giandr

Sardinian: landiri (Campidanese)

Spanish: landre

Borrowings:

→ Catalan: gland

→ English: gland, glans

→ French: glande

→ Galician: glande

→ Italian: glande

→ Portuguese: glande

→ Romanian: gland

→ Russian: гла́нды (glándy)

→ Spanish: glande

⇒ Translingual: Glandirana

From Proto-Italic *glānts, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₂- (“acorn”).

(weaponry) an acorn-shaped ball of lead or clay, hurled at the enemy

(transferred sense)
(New Latin, firearms) a bullet


core

en-noun

core (countable and uncountable, plural cores)

desc

Translingual: core eudicots, core Malvales

From Middle English core, kore, coor (“apple-core, pith”), of obscure and uncertain origin. Possibly of native English origin, from Old English *cor, related to Old English *coruc, *corc (diminutive) (> Middle English cork, crok (“core of an apple or other fruit, heart of an onion”)) and Old English corn (“seed", also "grain”); or alternatively perhaps from Old French cuer (“heart”), from Latin cor (“heart”); or from Old French cors (“body”), from Latin corpus (“body”). Compare also Middle English colk, coke, coll (“the heart or centre of an apple or onion, core”), Dutch kern (“core”), German Kern (“core”). See also heart, corpse.

unc

obscure and uncertain

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

In a hollow-core design, neutrons escape from the core more readily, allowing more fissile material to be used (and thus allowing for a greater yield) while still keeping the core subcritical prior to detonation.

particular parts of technical instruments or machines essential in function:

(military) The central fissile portion of a fission weapon.


incorporation

Inherited from Old French incorporacion, from Latin incorporātiōnem. By surface analysis, incorporer + -ation.

surface analysis

(military) entry into the military; entry into service


indent

en-verb

indent (third-person singular simple present indents, present participle indenting, simple past and past participle indented)

indents (present singular third-person)
indenting (participle present)
indented (participle past)
indented (past)

Partly from Middle English indenten (“to dent in”), equivalent to in- + dent (see dent); partly from Middle English indenten, endenten, from Old French endenter (“to provide with teeth”), from en- (“in-, en-”) + dent (“tooth”), from Latin dēns.

uder

What is the rule observed in India in indenting upon England for military stores ?

1832 May 23, John Byng examining Jasper Nicolls in the House of Commons

(military, India, dated) To make an order upon; to draw upon, as for military stores.


invitation

en-noun

invitation (countable and uncountable, plural invitations)

From Middle English invitacioun, ynvytacioun, from Latin invītātio, reinforced by Middle French invitation. Displaced native Middle English lathinge from Old English laþung (see dialectal English lathing).

(fencing) A line that is intentionally left open to encourage the opponent to attack.


ladder

en-verb

ladder (third-person singular simple present ladders, present participle laddering, simple past and past participle laddered)

ladders (present singular third-person)
laddering (participle present)
laddered (participle past)
laddered (past)
ledder (alternative)

From Middle English ladder, laddre, from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”).
Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, leer, German Leiter); also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”)). See lean, which is related to lid.
Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix, Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití).

For eighteen minutes Revenge pounded the dockyard area at an average range of 15,700 yards, spreading for line and laddering for range to a prearranged plan to cover the whole target area.

2007, Peter Smith, Naval Warfare in the English Channel: 1939-1945, page 134:

Laddering made it possible to get a few hits on a fast-moving, often manoeuvring, target.

2014, Norman Friedman, Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns & Gunnery:

(UK, naval slang) To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary.


liberate

liberate (third-person singular simple present liberates, present participle liberating, simple past and past participle liberated)

liberates (present singular third-person)
liberating (participle present)
liberated (participle past)
liberated (past)

Borrowed from Latin līberātus, the perfect passive participle of līberō (“to set free, deliver”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from līber (“free”); see liberal.

(transitive, military, euphemistic) To acquire from an enemy during wartime, used especially of cities, regions, and other population centers.


martinet

After the example of 17th-century French army officer Jean Martinet.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-martinet.wav

Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile ; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

The same Aubrey deLint I'd dismissed for years as a 2-D martinet knelt gurneyside to squeeze my restrained hand and say ‘Just hang in there, Buckaroo,’ […]

1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 15:

In Seattle, he was replaced by a martinet from Annapolis, a man so vain and incompetent, so impatient with advice from experienced sailors and sure of his own right way, that, when the Hull set sail for the South Pacific, twenty men went AWOL, certain that to ship with this man was a death sentence.

2008, Greil Marcus, “Tied to History”, in The Threepenny Review:


muster

From Middle English musteren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mostrer, Middle French monstrer, moustrer (whence the noun monstre, which gave the English noun), from Latin mōnstrō (“to show”), from moneō (“to admonish”). Cognate with French montrer (“to show”), Italian mostrare (“to show”), Spanish mostrar (“to show”). See also monster.

Come, let vs take a muster speedily: / Doomesday is neere; dye all, dye merrily.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

And after long being there, I 'light, and walked to the place where the King, Duke &c., did stand to see the horse and foot march by and discharge their guns, to show a French Marquisse (for whom this muster was caused) the goodness of our firemen […]

1663 July 14 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “July 4th, 1663”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume (please specify |volume=I to X), London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893–1899, →OCLC:

2010, Ohtar, "Enthroned", Slechtvalk, A Forlorn Throne.
To shorten his way and to hasten for the muster he takes a long lost road.

(military) An assembling or review of troops, as for parade, verification of numbers, inspection, exercise, or introduction into service.


piquet

piquet (third-person singular simple present piquets, present participle piqueting, simple past and past participle piqueted)

piquets (present singular third-person)
piqueting (participle present)
piqueted (participle past)
piqueted (past)


prise

→ Dutch: prise

→ Greek: πρίζα (príza)

→ Persian: پریز (periz)

→ Romanian: priză

→ Turkish: priz


prize

From Middle English prise, from Old French prise (“a taking, capture, a seizure, a thing seized, a prize, booty, also hold, purchase”), past participle of prendre (“to take, to capture”), from Latin prēndere (“to take, seize”); see prehend. Compare prison, apprise, comprise, enterprise, purprise, reprisal, surprise, etc. Doublet of prise.

der

Having taken all the Treasure on Board their own Ships, and plundered their Prize of every Thing elſe they either wanted or liked, they let her go; ſhe not being able to continue her Voyage, returned back: […]

1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “Of Captain Avery, and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], →OCLC, page 51:

(military, nautical) Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; especially, property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel.

غَنِيمَة

anything captured using the rights of war


raid

raids (plural)
rade (alternative Scotland)

From Scots raid, from Northern Middle English rade, from Old English rād (“a riding, an expedition on horseback, road”), whence also the inherited English road (“way, street”). The earlier senses of “a riding, expedition, raid” fell into disuse in Early Modern English, but were revived in the northern form raid by Walter Scott in the early 19th century. The use for a swift police operation appears in the later 19th century and may perhaps have been influenced by French razzia (similar in both original meaning and sound).

Marauding chief! his sole delight / The moonlight raid, the morning fight.

1805, Walter Scott, “Canto Fourth”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 109:

There are permanent conquests, temporary occupation, and occasional raids.

1872, Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Biology, volume 1, page 315:

(military) A quick hostile or predatory incursion or invasion in a battle.

مُدَاهَمَة

military: quick hostile or predatory incursion


raid

raid (absolutive indefinite)
raida (absolutive indefinite singular)
raidak (absolutive indefinite plural)
raidek (ergative indefinite)
raidak (ergative indefinite singular)
raidek (ergative indefinite plural)
raidi (dative indefinite)
raidari (dative indefinite singular)
raidei (dative indefinite plural)
raiden (genitive indefinite)
raidaren (genitive indefinite singular)
raiden (genitive indefinite plural)
raidekin (comitative indefinite)
raidarekin (comitative indefinite singular)
raidekin (comitative indefinite plural)
raidengatik (causative indefinite)
raidarengatik (causative indefinite singular)
raidengatik (causative indefinite plural)
raidentzat (benefactive indefinite)
raidarentzat (benefactive indefinite singular)
raidentzat (benefactive indefinite plural)
raidez (indefinite instrumental)
raidaz (indefinite instrumental singular)
raidez (indefinite instrumental plural)
raidetan (indefinite inessive)
raidean (indefinite inessive singular)
raidetan (indefinite inessive plural)
raidetako (indefinite locative)
raideko (indefinite locative singular)
raidetako (indefinite locative plural)
raidetara (allative indefinite)
raidera (allative indefinite singular)
raidetara (allative indefinite plural)
raidetaraino (indefinite terminative)
raideraino (indefinite singular terminative)
raidetaraino (indefinite plural terminative)
raidetarantz (directive indefinite)
raiderantz (directive indefinite singular)
raidetarantz (directive indefinite plural)
raidetarako (destinative indefinite)
raiderako (destinative indefinite singular)
raidetarako (destinative indefinite plural)
raidetatik (ablative indefinite)
raidetik (ablative indefinite singular)
raidetatik (ablative indefinite plural)
raidik (indefinite partitive)
raidtzat (indefinite prolative)


raid

Borrowed from English raid, from Scots raid. Doublet of rade from Middle English.


raider

(military) A special forces operative; a commando.

(military, naval) A warship which is light, maneuverable, and fast-moving.

אֳנִיַּת שֹׁד

naval: light maneuverable and fast warship, used in raiding


rase

head

rase (imperative ras, present tense raser, passive rases, simple past raste, past participle rast, present participle rasende)

ras (imperative)
raser (present)
rases (passive)
raste (past)
rast (participle past)
rasende (participle present)

(figurative: fever, plague, war) to rage


rase

rase (present tense rasar, past tense rasa, past participle rasa, passive infinitive rasast, present participle rasande, imperative rase/ras)

rasar (present)
rasa (past)
rasa (participle past)
rasast (infinitive passive)
rasande (participle present)
rase (imperative)
ras (imperative)
rasa (alternative)


reach

From Middle English rechen, from Old English rǣċan (“to reach”), from Proto-West Germanic *raikijan, from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną, from the Proto-Indo-European *Hreyǵ- (“to bind, reach”).

der

(boxing) The distance a boxer's arm can extend to land a blow.

ulottuvuus

boxing: distance a boxer's arm can extend


recover

From Middle English recoveren, rekeveren, from Anglo-Norman recoverer and Old French recovrer, from Latin recuperāre, alternative form of reciperāre. Doublet of recuperate.
The noun is from Middle English recover, from the verb.

(military) A position of holding a firearm during exercises, whereby the lock is at shoulder height and the sling facing out.


reeve

reeves (plural)
reve (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English reve, from Old English rēfa, an aphetism of ġerēfa (also groefa), from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō (“officer, official”). Compare Danish greve, Swedish greve, Dutch graaf, German Graf.
The role, and eventually the word, was mostly replaced by bailiff, of Anglo-Norman origin.

inh

A list of new titles was manufactured as follows: Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth-Ardian, Third-Ardian, Second-Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal. […] “Reeve”, perhaps, savoured a little too much of legal authority.

1936, The Periodical, volumes 21-22, Oxford University Press, page 67:

(military, historical) The holder of a proposed but unadopted commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force, equivalent to wing commander.


reserve

en-noun

reserve (countable and uncountable, plural reserves)

From Old French reserver, from Latin reservō (“to reserve, retain”).

اِحْتِيَاط

that which is reserved or kept back, as for future use

рэзерва́цыя

tract of land reserved for Aboriginal people

That which is reserved or kept back, as for future use.

(military) A body of troops kept in the rear of an army drawn up for battle, reserved to support the other lines as occasion may require; a force or body of troops kept for an exigency.

рэзе́рв

military: body of troops in the rear of an army


rout

The noun is derived from Middle French route (“military defeat; retreat”), from rout, archaic past participle of Middle French, Old French rompre (“to break; to break up, disperse”) (modern French rompre (“to break, snap; to break up (with someone)”)), from Latin rumpere, the present active infinitive of rumpō (“to break, burst, rupture, tear; to force open; (figurative) to annul; to destroy; to interrupt”); see further at etymology 1.
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

[T]hy Army preſently, / (As if they could not ſtand, when thou wert downe) / Diſperſt in rout, betooke them all to flie: [...]

1609, Samuel Daniel, “The Fovrth Booke”, in The Civile Wares betweene the Howses of Lancaster and Yorke […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes for] Simon Watersonne, →OCLC, stanza 56, page 101:

And the authorities in Moscow presented the rout in the northeast as a planned “regrouping.”

2022 September 11, Andrew E. Kramer, Andrew Higgins, “Ukraine Routs Russian Forces in Northeast, Forcing a Retreat”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Small contingents of Russian troops across the country have tried to train the Syrian army into a more professional force (the rout in Aleppo suggests those efforts have gone poorly).

2024 December 4, “Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is in mortal danger”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(military, also figurative) The retreat of an enemy force, etc., in this manner; also (archaic, rare), the army, enemy force, etc., so retreating.


secondary

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

der

English numerals#Ordinal numbers
secondary

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon

(military) The second stage of a multistage thermonuclear weapon, which generates a fusion explosion when imploded as an indirect result of the fission explosion of the primary, and which, in a few extremely large weapons, itself implodes a fusion tertiary.


serve

en-verb

serve (third-person singular simple present serves, present participle serving, simple past and past participle served)

serves (present singular third-person)
serving (participle present)
served (participle past)
served (past)

desc

→ Thai: เสิร์ฟ (sə̀əp)

→ Thai: เสิร์ฟ (sə̀əp)

From Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin serviō (“be a slave; serve”), from Latin servus (“slave; servant”), which perhaps derives from Etruscan (compare Etruscan proper names 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌉 (servi), 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌄 (serve)), or from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“watch over, protect”).

John T. Greble, of the 2d regular artillery, was likewise killed instantly by a ball through the head, while serving his gun in the face of the foe.

1864, Horace Greeley, The American Conflict:

(transitive, military) To work, to operate (a weapon).


shell

From Middle English schelle, from Old English sċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *skallju, from Proto-Germanic *skaljō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cleave”).
Compare West Frisian skyl (“peel, rind”), Dutch schil (“peel, skin, rink”), Low German Schell (“shell, scale”), Irish scelec (“pebble”), Old Church Slavonic сколика (skolika, “shell”). More at shale.
Doublet of sheal.
* (computing): From being viewed as an outer layer of interface between the user and the operating-system internals.

cog

(weaponry) The casing of a self-contained single-unit artillery projectile.

(weaponry) A hollow, usually spherical or cylindrical projectile fired from a siege mortar or a smoothbore cannon. It contains an explosive substance designed to be ignited by a fuse or by percussion at the target site so that it will burst and scatter at high velocity its contents and fragments. Formerly called a bomb.

արկ

hollow usually spherical or cylindrical projectile fired from a mortar or a cannon

(weaponry) The cartridge of a breechloading firearm; a load; a bullet; a round.


slapper

From slap + -er. For senses 2 and 3, the OED tentatively quotes the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang: "This working class term from East London and Essex is probably a corruption of shlepper or schlepper, a word of Yiddish origin, one of whose meanings is a slovenly or immoral woman."

(countable, military) A type of detonator which uses a powerful surge of electricity to vaporize a thin metal foil, propelling a larger piece of plastic film at a speed high enough to detonate an explosive upon impact.


slight

en-verb

slight (third-person singular simple present slights, present participle slighting, simple past and past participle slighted)

slights (present singular third-person)
slighting (participle present)
slighted (participle past)
slighted (past)

From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

cog

When the parliament had finished the war , they reduced and slighted most of the inland garrison

1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

(transitive, military, of a fortification) To render no longer defensible by full or partial demolition.


snipe

From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe.
The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-snipe.wav

(naval slang) A member of the engineering department on a ship.

laivamekaanikko

naval slang: member of the Engineering Department


spike

en-verb

spike (third-person singular simple present spikes, present participle spiking, simple past and past participle spiked)

spikes (present singular third-person)
spiking (participle present)
spiked (participle past)
spiked (past)

From Middle English spike, spyke, spik, from Old Norse spík (“spike, sprig”), from Proto-Germanic *spīkō (“stick, splinter, point”), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“to be pointed; sharp point, stick”). Cognate with Icelandic spík (“spike”), Swedish spik (“spike, nail”), Dutch spijker (“nail”), Old English spīcing (“spike”), and Latin spīca (“ear of corn”), which may have influenced some senses.

terästää

to covertly put alcohol or another intoxicating substance into a drink

He jumped down, wrenched the hammer from the armourer's hand, and seizing a nail from the bag, in a few moments he had spiked the gun.

1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XVIII, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 299:

Small skirmishes also took place, and the Afghans managed to seize a pair of mule-guns and force the British to spike and abandon two other precious guns.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, pages 235–6:

(military) To render (a gun) unusable by driving a metal spike into its touch hole.


stack

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-stack.wav

From Middle English stack, stacke, stakke, stak, from Old Norse stakkr (“a barn; haystack; heap; pile”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“a barn; rick; haystack”).
The data structure sense is a calque of Dutch stapel, introduced by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Cognate with Icelandic stakkur (“stack”), Swedish stack (“stack”), Danish stak (“stack”), Norwegian stakk (“stack”). Related to stake and sauna.

(military) A pile of rifles or muskets in a cone shape.


stag

en-noun

stag (countable and uncountable, plural stags)

stags (plural)
steg (alternative)
staig (alternative)
stagg (alternative)
stagge (alternative)

From Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.

Between shifts on stag or manning the radio, we grabbed a few hours sleep.

2000, Richard Tomlinson, The big breach: from top secret to maximum security, page 31:

Three days were spent on standby or patrols and a fourth day on guard, with at least eight hours on stag.

2012, Max Benitz, Six Months Without Sundays: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan:

(uncountable, UK, military, slang) Guard duty.


stark

head

stark (comparative starkare, superlative starkast)

starkare (comparative)
starkast (superlative)
stark (indefinite positive)
starkare (comparative indefinite)
starkast (indefinite superlative)
starkt (indefinite neuter positive singular)
starkare (comparative indefinite neuter singular)
starkast (indefinite neuter singular superlative)
starka (indefinite plural positive)
starkare (comparative indefinite plural)
starkast (indefinite plural superlative)
starke (archaic indefinite masculine plural positive)
starkare (archaic comparative indefinite masculine plural)
starkast (archaic indefinite masculine plural superlative)
starke (definite masculine positive singular)
starkare (comparative definite masculine singular)
starkaste (definite masculine singular superlative)
starka (definite positive)
starkare (comparative definite)
starkaste (definite superlative)

From Old Swedish starker, from Old Norse starkr, from Proto-Germanic *starkuz, from Proto-Indo-European *sterg-.

(military) strong; not easily subdued or taken


tang

From Middle English tange, variant of tonge (“tongs, fang”), from Old Norse tangi (“pointed metal tool”), perhaps related to Old Norse tunga (“tongue”). But see also Middle Dutch tanger (“sharp, tart, pinching”).

ruoti

projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to some other part

angel

part of small instrument inserted into handle

The rifle carried a vernier sight on the tang[…]

1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter IV, in Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC:

A projecting part of an object by means of which it is secured to a handle, or to some other part.

(firearms) The projecting part of the breech of a musket barrel, by which the barrel is secured to the stock.


tweak

en-verb

tweak (third-person singular simple present tweaks, present participle tweaking, simple past and past participle tweaked)

tweaks (present singular third-person)
tweaking (participle present)
tweaked (participle past)
tweaked (past)

From Middle English twikken, from Old English twiccian (“to pluck”), from Proto-West Germanic *twekkōn (“to fasten; clamp; pinch”). Related to twitch. The drug-related sense may be a blend of twitch and freak.

inh

(military, weaponry, uncommon) From a catapult, to strike a target with a missile.


vedette

The enemy made no effort to pursue Marshal Blücher. On the contrary, a patrole which I sent to Sombref in the morning found all quiet; and the enemy's vedettes fell back as the patrole advanced.

1815 June 19, Arthur Wellesley, Wellingon's Waterloo dispatch to Lord Bathurst:

My goal was Desolation Peak, the cabin where rookie vedette Jack Kerouac spent 63 eventful days in the summer of 1956.

2021 February 16, Dan Richards, “Peak cabin: a fire-spotter's lonely vantage point in Washington state”, in The Guardian:

(historical, military) A sentinel, usually on horseback, stationed on the outpost of an army, to watch an enemy and give notice of danger.


vedette

→ Dutch: vedette

→ English: vedette

→ Italian: vedette

→ Polish: wedeta

→ Portuguese: vedeta

→ Romanian: vedetă

→ Spanish: vedete


volunteer

/ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/

Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer.

der

(military) One who enters into military service voluntarily (but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers), as opposed to a conscript.

That summer and fall the Army organized twenty-five regiments of volunteers, including two black regiments, which would have all-black captains and lieutenants. All officers were to be selected from regulars and volunteers who had distinguished themselves[…]

2007 April 30, Edward M. Coffman, The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 16:

(military) A voluntary member of the organized militia of a country, as distinguished from a regular or member of the standing army.


waster

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-waster.wav

Or, as they that play at wasters exercise themselves by a few cudgels how to avoid an enemy's blows, let us arm ourselves against all such violent incursions which may invade our minds.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 6:

(obsolete, chiefly fencing) A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil.


feud

feuds (plural)
fead (alternative)
feaud (alternative)
fede (alternative)
feood (alternative)
fewd (alternative)
fewde (alternative)
fuide (alternative)
fude (alternative)

Oxford English Dictionary
Survey of English Dialects

Inherited from Northern Middle English fede, feide, from Old French faide, feide, fede, from Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu (“hatred, enmity”) (corresponding to foe + -th), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- (“hostile”).
Cognate to Old English fǣhþ, fǣhþu, fǣhþo (“hostility, enmity, violence, revenge, vendetta”), German Fehde, and Dutch vete (“feud”) (directly inherited from Proto-West Germanic) alongside Danish fejde (“feud, enmity, hostility, war”) and Swedish fejd (“feud, controversy, quarrel, strife”) (borrowed from Middle Low German).

der

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling) A staged rivalry between wrestlers.


boots

[…] he sent on the 22d. Vice-Admiral Rook into it, with several Men of War and Fire-Ships, besides the Boots of the Fleet, to endeavour to destroy them: […]

1705, The Life of William III, Late King of England, and Prince of Orange, page 334:

The captain of Hotspur was Lieutenant T. Herrick, the youngest commanding officer in all the destroyers, and says Hotspur was the “boots” of the fleet! Being the junior ship, she was given jobs no-one wanted.

2005, Frank Wade, A Midshipman's War, page 115:

(UK, naval, slang) The ship in a fleet having the most junior captain.


boozer

From booze + -er (agent noun suffix) or (pub) + -er (relational noun suffix).

(UK, military, obsolete) A World War II fighter radar detector, fitted to British bombers.


ringer

A group of naval one- and two-ringers were chatting by the office door with a few ratings, complete with kit-bags and oilskins.

The senior officer of the escort was an RN two and a half ringer who had a reputation of being one of the best.

(UK, military, informal, in combination) An officer having the specified number of rings (denoting rank) on the uniform sleeve.


khakis

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-khakis.wav

(military) A khaki uniform of pants (trousers) or shorts, shirt, and hat or other head covering such as a turban.


singe

Inherited from Middle French singe, from Old French singe, inherited from Latin sīmius.

ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces


Feuer

de-noun

Feuer n (strong, genitive Feuers, plural Feuer, diminutive Feuerchen n or Feuerlein n)

Feuers (genitive)
Feuer (plural)
Feuerchen (diminutive neuter)
Feuerlein (diminutive neuter)
Feuer (nominative singular)
Feuer (definite nominative plural)
Feuers (genitive singular)
Feuer (definite genitive plural)
Feuer (dative singular)
Feuern (dative definite plural)
Feuer (accusative singular)
Feuer (accusative definite plural)

From Middle High German viur, from Old High German fiur, from Proto-West Germanic *fuir, from Proto-Germanic *fōr, from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥. Compare Dutch vuur, Low German Füer, West Frisian fjoer, English fire, Danish fyr.


clip

→ Japanese: クリップ (kurippu)

→ Portuguese: clipe

From Middle English clippen, cleppen, clüppen, from Old English clyppan (“to hug, embrace, cherish, clasp”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *glemb-, *glembʰ- (“lump, clump, clod, clamp”). Cognate with Old Frisian kleppa, klippa (“to hug, embrace”), Middle High German klimpen, klimpfen (“to contract tightly, constrict, squeeze”).

inh

(military) A frame containing a number of rounds of ammunition which is intended to be inserted into an internal magazine of a firearm to allow for rapid reloading.

(military, colloquial) A removable magazine of a firearm.


clip

(firearms) clip (frame containing a number of bullets)


pil

nl-noun

pil f (plural pillen, diminutive pilletje n)

pillen (plural)
pilletje (diminutive neuter)

Afrikaans: pil

→ Indonesian: pil

→ Papiamentu: pelchi, pilchi, peeltsji (from the diminutive)

→ Sranan Tongo: perki

→ Saramaccan: péiki

From Middle Dutch pille, from Medieval Latin pilla, from Latin pilula, diminutive of pila (“ball”).

(metonymic) an expert in pill use:
(military) a med student


Star Wars

[ˈstɑɹ ˈwɔɹz]

[ˈstɑ˞ ˈwɔɹz]

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Star Wars.wav

From the original name of the science fantasy motion picture Star Wars (1977).

Strategic Defense Initiative
Strategic Defense Initiative

(informal, military) The United States Strategic Defense Initiative.


jalousie

/ˈd͡ʒæləsiː/

Borrowed from French jalousie. Doublet of jealousy.

(naval architecture) A component in a ventilation system.


caisson

Borrowed from French caisson. Doublet of cassone and cajón.

Over hill, over dale / As we hit the dusty trail, / And those caissons go rolling along.

1908, Edmund Louis Gruber, “The Caissons Go Rolling Along”:

(military) A two-wheeled, horse-drawn military vehicle used to carry ammunition (and a coffin at funerals).

vaigín armlóin

two-wheeled horse-drawn military vehicle

(military) A large box to hold ammunition.

(military) A chest filled with explosive materials, used like a mine.


caisson

→ English: caisson

→ Turkish: keson

From Old Occitan caisson, from caissa. By surface analysis, caisse + -on.


U-boat

(military, nautical, historical) Any German submarine of the First or Second World War, or any Austro-Hungarian submarine of the First World War.

U艇

any German submarine of the First or Second World War, or any Austro-Hungarian submarine of the First World War


bingo

Alternative form of bing, suggesting a ringing sound. Attested since 1925.

Well, the old pucker factor went up about 75 notches at that point cause that length of time would put my wingman below Bingo fuel, plus the thought of sitting in an orbit several miles West of the Yen Bai […]

1993, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots, page 40:

The first pilot to get down to this bingo fuel state would call, “Banjo 4, bingo fuel,” or whatever.

2012, Larry R Gibson, Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot, page 54:

(US, aviation slang, chiefly military, primarily of fuel) Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)


bingo

en-verb

bingo (third-person singular simple present bingos, present participle bingoing, simple past and past participle bingoed)

bingos (present singular third-person)
bingoing (participle present)
bingoed (participle past)
bingoed (past)
Bingo (alternative)

Tony's den

10; in the UK, referring to the Number 10, Downing Street, the prime minister's residence

on its own

followed by the number: any single-digit number

(intransitive, US, aviation slang, chiefly military) To return to base.


peloton

Borrowed from French peloton (“small ball (of thread, etc.), pellet; (cycling) group of riders formed during a cycling road race; (military) small group of soldiers, platoon”), from pelote (“small ball (of thread, etc.)”) (ultimately from Latin pila (“ball; ball game; globe, sphere”) (probably referring to a ball of hair), from pilus (“strand of hair”), from Proto-Indo-European *pil- (“strand of hair”)) + -on (augmentative suffix). Doublet of platoon.

der

And so here, I suppose you intend to make a stand against your followers, Ranald—voto a Dios, as the Spaniard says—a very pretty position—as pretty a position for a small peloton of men as I have seen in my service—no enemy can come towards it by the road without being at the mercy of cannon and musket.

1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume IV (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 135:

A regiment of cavalry consists of six squadrons, each squadron of four pelotons, each peloton of two companies, each company of two escouardes, and each escouarde of two men.

1840 November, R[ichard] W[illiam] H[oward] Howard Vyse, “Some Account of the Composition and Force of the Egyptian Army”, in The United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine, part III, number 144, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 307:

Then the chief of each peloton came forward, snapped fingers with us as we sat on our chairs under the tree, our guards ranged on the right, a mob of gazers—women scratching and boys pulling—on the left, and an open space in front.

1864, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “We Enter Whydah in State”, in A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome. […], volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 44:

In Bauske, on 2 July, the local commandant had twenty hostages publicly shot at the Memel bridge by a peloton supplied by the local headquarters, allegedly in "reprisal" for the German soldiers who had fallen in the battles for the town.

2000, Margers Vestermanis, “Local Headquarters Liepaja: Two Months of German Occupation in the Summer of 1941”, in Hannes Heer, Klaus Naumann, editors, War of Extermination: The German Military in World War II, 1941–1944 (Studies on War and Genocide; 3), New York, N.Y.: Berghahn Books, published 2009, →ISBN, page 232:

(military, chiefly historical) Synonym of platoon (“a small group of soldiers”) or section (cognate with the former; not invariably synonymous with it, depending on century of use).


peloton

→ English: peloton

→ German: Peloton

→ Portuguese: pelotão

→ Spanish: pelotón


HMS

One of the other two nations to operate the F-35B, the United Kingdom, has had US versions of the jet operating off its HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier.

2018 November 29, Brad Lendon and Zachary Cohen, “Japan preparing to put US-designed stealth jets on an ‘aircraft carrier’”, in CNN:

(military, nautical) Initialism of His/Her Majesty's Ship (prefix for ships in the navy of a monarchy, such as the British Royal Navy).


HMS

Hans Majestäts Skepp
Hans Majestäts Skepp

Hennes Majestäts Skepp
Hennes Majestäts Skepp

(nautical, military) Hans Majestäts Skepp / Hennes Majestäts Skepp — HSwMS – His/Her Majesty's Ship (ship prefix of the Swedish Navy (Marinen))


COB

contingency operating base
contingency operating base#English

(US, military) Initialism of contingency operating base.


PTA

en-noun

PTA (countable and uncountable, plural PTAs)

Their computer cannot issue a Permit to Acquire to somebody who does not have the appropriate category of licence; or whose licence is about to expire. I am hearing from lots of people who want to know why it's taking weeks, or even months, for the PTA to be issued, when the waiting period is supposed to be only 28 days. The reason is, of course, that the massive backlog of five-year licence renewals, caused by the under-resourcing of the Registry, is holding up PTA′s because they can't be issued until after the licence renewal is issued.

2003 October 21, CD, “NEWSLETTER FROM THE OFFICE OF JOHN TINGLE MLC 15.10.03”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

I think that is the most meaningless sections of the law out of the whole thing, PTA for second and subsequent arms. They are likely processing hundreds of thousands of PTA′s weekly for absolutely no demonstratable purpose with tax payer monies.

2004 January 28, Seb, “NEWSLETTER FROM NSW SHOOTERS PARTY January 27 2004”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

get your PTA, and then think about spending a few hundred on a more modern .22 and a scope.

2004 June 18, Lindsay, “Yaaaay. PTA in less than a month”, in aus.sport.shooting (Usenet):

Recently, people applying for a Permit to Acquire have received a letter back from the Firearms Registry saying they had to submit a Certificate of Inspection of their secure storage, before the application could be processed. This was a new thing, and, in the case of people who already have a firearm, was pretty pointless, since we all had our secure storage inspected in that great state-wide sweep; and unless the applicant's address had changed, there was little point in a new inspection. In any case, I had countless reports of people asking their local police to do a new inspection to go with the PTA and being told the police were much too busy to do all that again.

2006 February 22, CD, “NSW Shooters party Newsletter Feb 21 2006”, in aus.politics.guns (Usenet):

(Australia, firearms) Initialism of permit to acquire: a form lodged with the police to acquire a specific firearm; the authorisation subsequently acquired.


crunchy

From crunch + -y. The slang sense is derived from the concept of crunchy granola.

crunchie

chocolate sweet; infantry soldier; white Afrikaner

"Inside, tankers carry full-length M16s for crew protection from crunchies."

2009, James Wesley Rawles, Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse:

Since tankers are no brighter than infantry types, those men assigned to the Twelfth Infantry Division's armored unit thought their tour was a bitter waste, rather than being grateful for not getting wiped out nearly as regularly as the crunchies did.

2009, Chris Bunch, Allan cole, A Reckoning For Kings: A Novel of Vietnam:

(military slang) An infantryman, as opposed to a tanker (combatant manning a tank).


camouflage

camouflage (countable and uncountable, plural camouflages)

/ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/

Unadapted borrowing from French camouflage, from camoufler (“to veil, disguise”), alteration (due to camouflet (“smoke blown in one's face”)) of Italian camuffare (“to muffle the head”), from ca- (from Italian capo (“head”)) + muffare (“to muffle”), from Medieval Latin muffula, muffla (“muff”). This Medieval Latin, from which there is also English muffle, is either derived from a Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”)) + *fell (“hide, skin”), from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”), or, an alternate etymology traces it to a Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) composed of *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”) + *fell (“skin, hide”) from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”).

der

(military) The use of natural or artificial material on personnel, objects, or tactical positions with the aim of confusing, misleading, or evading the enemy.


offensive

en-noun

offensive (countable and uncountable, plural offensives)

offensives (plural)
offencive (alternative obsolete)

From Middle French offensif, from offendre + -if by analogy with défensif. Offendre is from Latin offendere (“to offend”); see offend.

The Marines today launched a major offensive.

In Central Hupeh, the Japanese launched another offensive from the Kingshan region, but instead of moving southwestward to cooperate with another column of theirs to capture Shasi, this column swerved to the northwest and succeeded in capturing Chunghsiang on the Han River.

1939 January, Lin Yu, “The "China Incident"”, in Philippine Magazine, volume XXXVI, number 1, →OCLC, page 121:


offensive

→ German: Offensive

First attested 1417; formed from offense, from Latin offēnsare (“to strike against”).


imperium

la-noun

imperium n (genitive imperiī or imperī); second declension

imperiī (genitive)
imperī (genitive)
imperium (nominative singular)
imperia (nominative plural)
imperiī (genitive singular)
imperī (genitive singular)
imperiōrum (genitive plural)
imperiō (dative singular)
imperiīs (dative plural)
imperium (accusative singular)
imperia (accusative plural)
imperiō (ablative singular)
imperiīs (ablative plural)
imperium (singular vocative)
imperia (plural vocative)
inperium (alternative)

Old Catalan: emperi

Catalan: imperi

Old French: empire

→ English: empire, empery

French: empire

Friulian: imperi

Italian: impero

Occitan: empèri

Piedmontese: imperi

Sicilian: mpiru

Venetan: inpero

→ Asturian: imperiu

→ English: imperium

→ Old Galician-Portuguese: emperio

Portuguese: império

→ German: Imperium

→ Old Irish: impere, impire

Irish: impire

Scottish Gaelic: ìmpire

→ Italian: imperio (semi-learned)

→ Romanian: imperiu

desctree

→ Russian: импе́рия (impérija), импе́рія (impérija) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Bashkir: империя (imperiya)
→ Kazakh: империя (imperiä)
→ Hebrew: אימפריה
→ Turkmen: imperiýa
→ Uzbek: imperiya
→ Yiddish: אימפּעריע (imperye)

→ Spanish: imperio

→ Tagalog: imperyo

From imperō (“command, order”) + -ium, from im- (form of in) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”).

Q. Fuluio Ap. Claudio, prioris anni consulibus, prorogatum imperium est atque exercitus quos habebant decreti, adiectumque ne a Capua quam obsidebant abscederent priusquam expugnassent.

27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1

The military authority of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius, consuls of the previous year, was extended and the armies which they had were decided upon, and it was added as a proviso that they should not withdraw from Capua, which they were besieging, until they conquered it.

(military) Military authority, the command (of an army).


old man

en-noun

old man (countable and uncountable, plural old men)

old men (plural)
oldman (alternative)
old-man (alternative)

From Middle English alde mann, aldman, elde man, oldeman, from Old English eald man.

(slang, military) A unit's commanding officer, or the commander of a naval vessel, irrespective of age.


barrack

Borrowed from French baraque, from Spanish barraca or Catalan barraca, which is of uncertain origin. It is probably either a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *barra (“bar”), of unclear origin, or a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *barrum (“clay, mud”) from Celtiberian or Paleo-Hispanic.

Before the gates of Bari, he lodged in a miserable hut or barrack, composed of dry branches, and thatched with straw; a perilous station, on all sides open to the inclemency of the winter and the spears of the enemy.

1829, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 4, page 67:

1919, House Committee on Military Affairs, Army Reorganization: Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives, 66th Congress, 1st Session, on H.R. 8287, H.R. 8068, H.R. 7925, H.R. 8870, Sept. 3, 1919-Nov. 12, 1919, Parts 23-43, page 1956,
How do you distinguish between the disciplinary barracks and the penitentiary? Where are the disciplinary barracks ?

I know the barracks at the training camp out on the moors.

1996, Erich Maria Remarque, translated by Brian Murdoch, All Quiet on the Western Front, page 129:

(military, chiefly in the plural) A building for soldiers, especially within a garrison; originally referred to temporary huts, now usually to a permanent structure or set of buildings.


legion

Attested (in Middle English, as legioun) around 1200, from Old French legion, from Latin legiō, legionem, from legō (“to gather, collect”); akin to legend, lecture. Doublet of León, which was borrowed from Spanish.
Generalized sense of “a large number” is due to an allusive phrase in Mark 5:9, "My name is Legion, for we are many".

Meronyms: cohort, maniple, century

en:the major unit or division of the Roman army

(military, Ancient Rome) The major unit or division of the Roman army, usually comprising 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

legioen

(military) A combined arms major military unit featuring cavalry, infantry, and artillery, including historical units such as the British Legion, and present-day units such as the Spanish Legion and the French Foreign Legion.

Efforts to unionize were routinely met with clubbings, shootings, jailings, blacklistings and executions, perpetrated not only by well-armed legions of company goons, but also by police officers, deputies, National Guardsmen and even regular soldiers.

2009 February 22, Kevin Baker, “Blood on the Street”, in The New York Times:

(military) A large military or semi-military unit trained for combat; any military force; an army, regiment; an armed, organized and assembled militia.


legion

French: légion


battleship

From battle + ship; shortened from line-of-battle ship, attested 1794.

(military, nautical) A large capital warship displacing thousands to tens of thousands of tons, heavily armoured and armed with large-caliber guns; now obsolescent and replaced by smaller vessels with guided missiles.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role

Schlachtschiff n. Schlachtschiff is used for dreadnought battleships

Linienschiff is used for pre-dreadnought battleships.

(military, nautical, archaic) A ship of the line.


SOS

struck off strength
strike off strength#English

stricken off strength
strike off strength#English

(Commonwealth, military, historical) Initialism of struck off strength or stricken off strength.


banger

→ Estonian: bänger

→ Finnish: bängeri

From bang + -er. The sausages were so called because of their excess water content and impervious skin, leading to the risk of explosion if not punctured before cooking.


kat

nl-noun

kat f (plural katten, diminutive katje n, masculine kater or mannetjeskat)

katten (plural)
katje (diminutive neuter)
kater (masculine)
mannetjeskat (masculine)

desctree

Afrikaans: kat
→ Xhosa: ikati
→ Zulu: ikati

Jersey Dutch: kāt

Negerhollands: katje (from the Dutch diminutive)

Skepi Creole Dutch: kat

Inherited from Middle Dutch catte, from Old Dutch katta, *catta, from Proto-West Germanic *kattā, from Latin catta, feminine of cattus.

als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel

(military) cavalier (a raised firing platform)


pivot

From Middle English pevet, *pivot, from Old French pivot (“hinge pin, pivot”) (12th c.), possibly from Latin pūgiō.

(military) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place while the company or line moves around him in wheeling.


police

en-noun

police pl (normally plural, singular police)

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, Indic

From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.

Q. […] What did you do that day? — A. I was cleaning up around quarters.
Q. You had been on guard and went on police duty? You were policing, cleaning up around the barracks? — A. Yes, sir.

1907, Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate, concerning the Affray at Brownsville, Tex. on the Night of August 13 and 14, 1906, volume 2:

(military, slang) Cleanup of a military facility, as a formal duty.


police

en-verb

police (third-person singular simple present polices, present participle policing, simple past and past participle policed)

polices (present singular third-person)
policing (participle present)
policed (participle past)
policed (past)

This comes to him through the company housekeeping, for in the field each organization takes care of itself, cooks its own food, makes its own beds, does its own policing (cleaning up); […]

1900, Proceedings of the eighth annual meeting, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States:

ELIAS: Police up your extra ammo and frags, don't leave nothing for the dinks.

1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)

"Fire off several rounds in a residential building and stop to police the brass?"

2006, Robert B. Parker, Hundred-Dollar Baby, Putnam,, →ISBN, page 275:

(ambitransitive, military, slang) To clean up an area.


discipulus

la-noun

discipulus m (genitive discipulī); second declension

discipulī (genitive)
discipulus (nominative singular)
discipulī (nominative plural)
discipulī (genitive singular)
discipulōrum (genitive plural)
discipulō (dative singular)
discipulīs (dative plural)
discipulum (accusative singular)
discipulōs (accusative plural)
discipulō (ablative singular)
discipulīs (ablative plural)
discipule (singular vocative)
discipulī (plural vocative)

English: disciple

Catalan: deixeble

French: disciple

Old Irish: deiscipul

Irish: deisceabal

Scottish Gaelic: deisciobal

Italian: discepolo

Norman: discipl'ye (Jersey)

desc

Old Galician-Portuguese: sêpolo, decipolo, discipulo

Portuguese: discípulo

Romanian: discipol

Spanish: discípulo

Welsh: disgybl

From dis- + Proto-Italic *kapelos (“one who takes”) corresponding to *dwiskapelos, from *kapiō (“take”) (whence capiō). Sense influenced by the unrelated verb discō (“learn”).
Compare typologically English apprentice derived from Latin apprehendō.

(military) cadet (student in a military school or state program)


masi

masi (nominative singular)
masit (nominative plural)
masi (accusative nominative singular)
masit (accusative nominative plural)
masin (accusative genitive singular)
masit (accusative genitive plural)
masin (genitive singular)
masien (genitive plural)
masia (partitive singular)
maseja (partitive plural)
masissa (inessive singular)
maseissa (inessive plural)
masista (elative singular)
maseista (elative plural)
masiin (illative singular)
maseihin (illative plural)
masilla (adessive singular)
maseilla (adessive plural)
masilta (ablative singular)
maseilta (ablative plural)
masille (allative singular)
maseille (allative plural)
masina (essive singular)
maseina (essive plural)
masiksi (singular translative)
maseiksi (plural translative)
masitta (abessive singular)
maseitta (abessive plural)
masein (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
masini (nominative singular)
masini (nominative plural)
masini (accusative nominative singular)
masini (accusative nominative plural)
masini (accusative genitive singular)
masini (accusative genitive plural)
masini (genitive singular)
masieni (genitive plural)
masiani (partitive singular)
masejani (partitive plural)
masissani (inessive singular)
maseissani (inessive plural)
masistani (elative singular)
maseistani (elative plural)
masiini (illative singular)
maseihini (illative plural)
masillani (adessive singular)
maseillani (adessive plural)
masiltani (ablative singular)
maseiltani (ablative plural)
masilleni (allative singular)
maseilleni (allative plural)
masinani (essive singular)
maseinani (essive plural)
masikseni (singular translative)
maseikseni (plural translative)
masittani (abessive singular)
maseittani (abessive plural)
maseineni (comitative plural)
masisi (nominative singular)
masisi (nominative plural)
masisi (accusative nominative singular)
masisi (accusative nominative plural)
masisi (accusative genitive singular)
masisi (accusative genitive plural)
masisi (genitive singular)
masiesi (genitive plural)
masiasi (partitive singular)
masejasi (partitive plural)
masissasi (inessive singular)
maseissasi (inessive plural)
masistasi (elative singular)
maseistasi (elative plural)
masiisi (illative singular)
maseihisi (illative plural)
masillasi (adessive singular)
maseillasi (adessive plural)
masiltasi (ablative singular)
maseiltasi (ablative plural)
masillesi (allative singular)
maseillesi (allative plural)
masinasi (essive singular)
maseinasi (essive plural)
masiksesi (singular translative)
maseiksesi (plural translative)
masittasi (abessive singular)
maseittasi (abessive plural)
maseinesi (comitative plural)
masimme (nominative singular)
masimme (nominative plural)
masimme (accusative nominative singular)
masimme (accusative nominative plural)
masimme (accusative genitive singular)
masimme (accusative genitive plural)
masimme (genitive singular)
masiemme (genitive plural)
masiamme (partitive singular)
masejamme (partitive plural)
masissamme (inessive singular)
maseissamme (inessive plural)
masistamme (elative singular)
maseistamme (elative plural)
masiimme (illative singular)
maseihimme (illative plural)
masillamme (adessive singular)
maseillamme (adessive plural)
masiltamme (ablative singular)
maseiltamme (ablative plural)
masillemme (allative singular)
maseillemme (allative plural)
masinamme (essive singular)
maseinamme (essive plural)
masiksemme (singular translative)
maseiksemme (plural translative)
masittamme (abessive singular)
maseittamme (abessive plural)
maseinemme (comitative plural)
masinne (nominative singular)
masinne (nominative plural)
masinne (accusative nominative singular)
masinne (accusative nominative plural)
masinne (accusative genitive singular)
masinne (accusative genitive plural)
masinne (genitive singular)
masienne (genitive plural)
masianne (partitive singular)
masejanne (partitive plural)
masissanne (inessive singular)
maseissanne (inessive plural)
masistanne (elative singular)
maseistanne (elative plural)
masiinne (illative singular)
maseihinne (illative plural)
masillanne (adessive singular)
maseillanne (adessive plural)
masiltanne (ablative singular)
maseiltanne (ablative plural)
masillenne (allative singular)
maseillenne (allative plural)
masinanne (essive singular)
maseinanne (essive plural)
masiksenne (singular translative)
maseiksenne (plural translative)
masittanne (abessive singular)
maseittanne (abessive plural)
maseinenne (comitative plural)
masinsa (nominative singular)
masinsa (nominative plural)
masinsa (accusative nominative singular)
masinsa (accusative nominative plural)
masinsa (accusative genitive singular)
masinsa (accusative genitive plural)
masinsa (genitive singular)
masiensa (genitive plural)
masiaan (partitive singular)
masiansa (partitive singular)
masejaan (partitive plural)
masejansa (partitive plural)
masissaan (inessive singular)
masissansa (inessive singular)
maseissaan (inessive plural)
maseissansa (inessive plural)
masistaan (elative singular)
masistansa (elative singular)
maseistaan (elative plural)
maseistansa (elative plural)
masiinsa (illative singular)
maseihinsa (illative plural)
masillaan (adessive singular)
masillansa (adessive singular)
maseillaan (adessive plural)
maseillansa (adessive plural)
masiltaan (ablative singular)
masiltansa (ablative singular)
maseiltaan (ablative plural)
maseiltansa (ablative plural)
masilleen (allative singular)
masillensa (allative singular)
maseilleen (allative plural)
maseillensa (allative plural)
masinaan (essive singular)
masinansa (essive singular)
maseinaan (essive plural)
maseinansa (essive plural)
masikseen (singular translative)
masiksensa (singular translative)
maseikseen (plural translative)
maseiksensa (plural translative)
masittaan (abessive singular)
masittansa (abessive singular)
maseittaan (abessive plural)
maseittansa (abessive plural)
maseineen (comitative plural)
maseinensa (comitative plural)

(military slang) a conscript who has almost finished his service


challenge

en-verb

challenge (third-person singular simple present challenges, present participle challenging, simple past and past participle challenged)

challenges (present singular third-person)
challenging (participle present)
challenged (participle past)
challenged (past)

/ˈt͡ʃæl.ɪnd͡ʒ/

/ˈt͡ʃæl.ənd͡ʒ/

From Middle English chalenge, variant with palatalization of Middle English kalange (“an accusation, claim”), from Old French chalenge, chalonge, palatalized Central French variants of Old Northern French calenge, calonge (see Continental Norman calengier), from Latin calumnia (“a false accusation, calumny”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₁l-, *keh₁l- (“to beguile, deceive”). Cognate with Old English hōl (“calumny”). Doublet of calumny.

der

The sentinel challenged us with "Who goes there?"

(military, transitive) To question or demand the countersign from (one who attempts to pass the lines).


assembly

en-noun

assembly (countable and uncountable, plural assemblies)

From Middle English assemblee, from Anglo-Norman asemblee (Old French asemblee, French assemblée). By surface analysis, assemble + -y.

(military) A beat of the drum or sound of the bugle as a signal to troops to assemble.


swivel

swivel (countable and uncountable, plural swivels)

From Middle English swyvel, swivel, from a derivative of Old English swīfan (“to revolve”), + -el, an instrumental suffix, equivalent to swive + -el.

[The settlement] was entirely surrounded by a broad unfordable marsh or swamp, which prevented all communication, except by private paths under water, known only to the rebels, and before which Baron had placed loaded swivels […]

1796, John Stedman, chapter 4, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition,, volume 1, London: J. Johnson, page 81:

Applied to guns mounted upon the cartridges were fired without being tripods, stands, swivels, or carriages

1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:

(military) A small piece of ordnance, turning on a point or swivel; called also swivel gun.


firma

firma (nominative singular)
firmat (nominative plural)
firma (accusative nominative singular)
firmat (accusative nominative plural)
firman (accusative genitive singular)
firmat (accusative genitive plural)
firman (genitive singular)
firmojen (genitive plural)
firmain (genitive plural rare)
firmaa (partitive singular)
firmoja (partitive plural)
firmassa (inessive singular)
firmoissa (inessive plural)
firmasta (elative singular)
firmoista (elative plural)
firmaan (illative singular)
firmoihin (illative plural)
firmalla (adessive singular)
firmoilla (adessive plural)
firmalta (ablative singular)
firmoilta (ablative plural)
firmalle (allative singular)
firmoille (allative plural)
firmana (essive singular)
firmoina (essive plural)
firmaksi (singular translative)
firmoiksi (plural translative)
firmatta (abessive singular)
firmoitta (abessive plural)
firmoin (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
firmani (nominative singular)
firmani (nominative plural)
firmani (accusative nominative singular)
firmani (accusative nominative plural)
firmani (accusative genitive singular)
firmani (accusative genitive plural)
firmani (genitive singular)
firmojeni (genitive plural)
firmaini (genitive plural rare)
firmaani (partitive singular)
firmojani (partitive plural)
firmassani (inessive singular)
firmoissani (inessive plural)
firmastani (elative singular)
firmoistani (elative plural)
firmaani (illative singular)
firmoihini (illative plural)
firmallani (adessive singular)
firmoillani (adessive plural)
firmaltani (ablative singular)
firmoiltani (ablative plural)
firmalleni (allative singular)
firmoilleni (allative plural)
firmanani (essive singular)
firmoinani (essive plural)
firmakseni (singular translative)
firmoikseni (plural translative)
firmattani (abessive singular)
firmoittani (abessive plural)
firmoineni (comitative plural)
firmasi (nominative singular)
firmasi (nominative plural)
firmasi (accusative nominative singular)
firmasi (accusative nominative plural)
firmasi (accusative genitive singular)
firmasi (accusative genitive plural)
firmasi (genitive singular)
firmojesi (genitive plural)
firmaisi (genitive plural rare)
firmaasi (partitive singular)
firmojasi (partitive plural)
firmassasi (inessive singular)
firmoissasi (inessive plural)
firmastasi (elative singular)
firmoistasi (elative plural)
firmaasi (illative singular)
firmoihisi (illative plural)
firmallasi (adessive singular)
firmoillasi (adessive plural)
firmaltasi (ablative singular)
firmoiltasi (ablative plural)
firmallesi (allative singular)
firmoillesi (allative plural)
firmanasi (essive singular)
firmoinasi (essive plural)
firmaksesi (singular translative)
firmoiksesi (plural translative)
firmattasi (abessive singular)
firmoittasi (abessive plural)
firmoinesi (comitative plural)
firmamme (nominative singular)
firmamme (nominative plural)
firmamme (accusative nominative singular)
firmamme (accusative nominative plural)
firmamme (accusative genitive singular)
firmamme (accusative genitive plural)
firmamme (genitive singular)
firmojemme (genitive plural)
firmaimme (genitive plural rare)
firmaamme (partitive singular)
firmojamme (partitive plural)
firmassamme (inessive singular)
firmoissamme (inessive plural)
firmastamme (elative singular)
firmoistamme (elative plural)
firmaamme (illative singular)
firmoihimme (illative plural)
firmallamme (adessive singular)
firmoillamme (adessive plural)
firmaltamme (ablative singular)
firmoiltamme (ablative plural)
firmallemme (allative singular)
firmoillemme (allative plural)
firmanamme (essive singular)
firmoinamme (essive plural)
firmaksemme (singular translative)
firmoiksemme (plural translative)
firmattamme (abessive singular)
firmoittamme (abessive plural)
firmoinemme (comitative plural)
firmanne (nominative singular)
firmanne (nominative plural)
firmanne (accusative nominative singular)
firmanne (accusative nominative plural)
firmanne (accusative genitive singular)
firmanne (accusative genitive plural)
firmanne (genitive singular)
firmojenne (genitive plural)
firmainne (genitive plural rare)
firmaanne (partitive singular)
firmojanne (partitive plural)
firmassanne (inessive singular)
firmoissanne (inessive plural)
firmastanne (elative singular)
firmoistanne (elative plural)
firmaanne (illative singular)
firmoihinne (illative plural)
firmallanne (adessive singular)
firmoillanne (adessive plural)
firmaltanne (ablative singular)
firmoiltanne (ablative plural)
firmallenne (allative singular)
firmoillenne (allative plural)
firmananne (essive singular)
firmoinanne (essive plural)
firmaksenne (singular translative)
firmoiksenne (plural translative)
firmattanne (abessive singular)
firmoittanne (abessive plural)
firmoinenne (comitative plural)
firmansa (nominative singular)
firmansa (nominative plural)
firmansa (accusative nominative singular)
firmansa (accusative nominative plural)
firmansa (accusative genitive singular)
firmansa (accusative genitive plural)
firmansa (genitive singular)
firmojensa (genitive plural)
firmainsa (genitive plural rare)
firmaansa (partitive singular)
firmojaan (partitive plural)
firmojansa (partitive plural)
firmassaan (inessive singular)
firmassansa (inessive singular)
firmoissaan (inessive plural)
firmoissansa (inessive plural)
firmastaan (elative singular)
firmastansa (elative singular)
firmoistaan (elative plural)
firmoistansa (elative plural)
firmaansa (illative singular)
firmoihinsa (illative plural)
firmallaan (adessive singular)
firmallansa (adessive singular)
firmoillaan (adessive plural)
firmoillansa (adessive plural)
firmaltaan (ablative singular)
firmaltansa (ablative singular)
firmoiltaan (ablative plural)
firmoiltansa (ablative plural)
firmalleen (allative singular)
firmallensa (allative singular)
firmoilleen (allative plural)
firmoillensa (allative plural)
firmanaan (essive singular)
firmanansa (essive singular)
firmoinaan (essive plural)
firmoinansa (essive plural)
firmakseen (singular translative)
firmaksensa (singular translative)
firmoikseen (plural translative)
firmoiksensa (plural translative)
firmattaan (abessive singular)
firmattansa (abessive singular)
firmoittaan (abessive plural)
firmoittansa (abessive plural)
firmoineen (comitative plural)
firmoinensa (comitative plural)

From German Firma, from Italian firma (“signature”).

(military slang) the Finnish Defense Forces


about-face

about-faces (plural)
about face (alternative)

From about + face, first attested in 1861, used in the imperative in the military.

The soldier did an about-face and marched off.

Deciding that he hasn't had enough action for one day, Captain Evans of the Johnston orders another 180-degree about-face to give gunfire support to the new arrivals, this time picking on the heavy cruiser Tone.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 22:11 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03:

(military) An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction.

rechtsomkeert

military: abrupt turn to face the opposite direction


ki

At sea a special cauldron of 'ki,' prepared by the ship's cook, is sent round action stations in 'fannies' or large pitchers.

1917, The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, volumes 34-35, page 217:

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of kye (“cocoa”).


SN

(military, nautical) initialism of sous-marin nucléaire (“nuclear-powered submarine; SSN”)


avant-garde

→ Danish: avantgarde

→ English: avant-garde

→ German: Avantgarde

→ Korean: 아방가르드 (abanggareudeu)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: avantgarde

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: avantgarde

→ Swedish: avantgarde

→ Turkish: avangart

Inherited from Old French avantgarde. By surface analysis, avant (“before, in front of”) + garde (“guard”).

surf

Le 11 décembre, les avant-gardes ennemies étaient signalées aux environs de Château-Thierry.

1879, Alfred Barbou, Les Trois Républiques françaises : Histoire populaire de la République en France [The Three French Republics: People's history of the Republic in France], A. Duquesne:

On December 11, the enemy vanguard was reported in the vicinity of Château-Thierry.