(dated, military) Ellipsis of German 88 (“WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery piece”).


dolphin

From Middle English delphyn, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís), from δελφύς (delphús, “womb”); the modern form in -ol- is probably influenced by the pronunciation of Middle French dauphin. Compare Swedish delfin. Doublet of dauphin. Displaced native Old English mereswīn (literally “sea pig”).

ncog

(military, obsolete) One of the handles above the trunnions by which a gun was lifted.


pocket

→ Japanese: ポケット

→ Welsh: poced

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokō (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Equivalent to poke + -et. Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

(military) An area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units.

чува́л

military: area where military units are completely surrounded by enemy units


flamberge

flamberges (plural)
flamberg (alternative)

The wavy, cutting surface appears in the ‘flamberge,’ to which flame gave a name: it is nowhere better developed than in the beautiful Malay kris (crease). The object seems to be that of increasing the cutting surface.

1884, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Sword: What is It?”, in The Book of the Sword, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 137:

(weaponry) A European sword, typically a greatsword, which had a wavy blade, possibly to increase the cutting surface or for aid in parrying.


fuzzy

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz + -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

(slang, military) A soldier with the rank of private.


resident

From Middle English resident, from Anglo-Norman resident, from Latin residēns, present participle of resideō (“to remain behind, reside, dwell”), equivalent to reside + -ent, from re- (“back”) + sedeō (“I sit”). Doublet of resiant and rezident. The espionage sense is a semantic loan from Russian резиде́нт (rezidént).

semantic loan

(espionage) Alternative form of rezident


slope

en-verb

slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)

slopes (present singular third-person)
sloping (participle present)
sloped (participle past)
sloped (past)

The order was given to "slope arms".

(military) To hold a rifle at a slope with forearm perpendicular to the body in front holding the butt, the rifle resting on the shoulder.


boxing glove

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

(boxing, clothing) A padded mitten, designed to protect the hand while punching, and worn in boxing.


floppy

"Ja, our job is not to think or make decisions. We just here to slay floppies," remarked Koos.

1997, Dick Gledhill, One Commando: Rhodesia's Last Years & the Guerilla^([sic]) War It Never Lost, page 55:

(military slang, Rhodesia, South Africa) An insurgent in the Rhodesian Bush War, called as such for the way they "flop" when shot.


fizzle

fizzle (third-person singular simple present fizzles, present participle fizzling, simple past and past participle fizzled)

fizzles (present singular third-person)
fizzling (participle present)
fizzled (participle past)
fizzled (past)

Attested in English since 1525-35. From earlier fysel (“to fart”). Related to fīsa (“to fart”). Compare with Swedish fisa (“to fart (silently)”). See also feist.
It could also come from old Norse: "fise" simply means "blow," like in "blow in the wind." A weather-exposed community in Rogaland, Norway, is called Fister. (In modern language, the verb "fisle" has the same 3 meanings as in English, see below.)

The shot fizzled, generating only 200 tons rather than the 30 kilotons they were aiming for.

(military, of a nuclear weapon) To fail to generate the expected yield when exploded during testing.


fizzle

(military) Failure of an exploding nuclear bomb to meet its expected yield during testing.


kickboxing

Borrowed from Japanese キックボクシング (kikkubokushingu), from English kick + boxing. Possibly coined by Japanese businessman Osamu Noguchi in 1964.

coinage

kick-boxing (alternative)
kick boxing (alternative)

Ex world’s champion [Georges] Carpentier was also expert at kick-boxing.

1940 August 4, Daily Telegraph, Sydney, page 2:

The Japanese kickboxing gym, recently opened in the Thai capital, had been a great success

1973 March, Black Belt magazine, page 13:

(martial arts) A hybrid martial art derived from Muay Thai, karate, and especially boxing during the 1960s to 1970s; more generally, any stand-up combat sport that combines kicks and punches.


Muay Thai

From Thai มวยไทย (muai-tai, “Thai boxing”).

(martial arts) A sport practiced in Thailand which is similar to boxing but also allows strikes with the shins, feet, elbows, and knees.


hip

en-verb

hip (third-person singular simple present hips, present participle hipping, simple past and past participle hipped)

hips (present singular third-person)
hipping (participle present)
hipped (participle past)
hipped (past)

From Middle English hipe, hupe, from Old English hype, from Proto-Germanic *hupiz (compare Dutch heup, Low German Huop, German Hüfte), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (compare Welsh cysgu (“to sleep”), Latin cubāre (“to lie”), Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos, “hollow in the hips”), Albanian sup (“shoulder”), Sanskrit शुप्ति (śúpti, “shoulder”)), from *ḱew- (“to bend”). More at high. The sense "drug addict" derives from addicts lying on their hips while using certain drugs such as opium.

cog

(wrestling) To throw (one's adversary) over one's hip ("cross-buttock").


formation

en-noun

formation (countable and uncountable, plural formations)

/fɔːˈmeɪʃən/

/fɔɹˈmeɪʃən/

/foːˈmæɪʃən/

From Middle English formacioun, formation, borrowed from Old French formacion, from Latin fōrmātiō, from fōrmō (“form”, verb); see form as verb.
Morphologically form + -ation

(military) A grouping of military units or smaller formations under a command, such as a brigade, division, wing, etc. [from 18th c.]

تَشْكِيلَة

military: grouping of units under a command

(military) An arrangement of moving troops, ships, or aircraft, such as a wedge, line abreast, or echelon. Often "in formation".

تَشْكِيلَة

military: arrangement of moving troops, ships, or aircraft


rack

en-verb

rack (third-person singular simple present racks, present participle racking, simple past and past participle racked)

racks (present singular third-person)
racking (participle present)
racked (participle past)
racked (past)
rack (infinitive)
rack (first-person present singular)
racked (first-person past singular)
rack (present second-person singular)
rackest (archaic present second-person singular)
racked (past second-person singular)
rackedst (archaic past second-person singular)
racks (present singular third-person)
racketh (archaic present singular third-person)
racked (past singular third-person)
rack (plural present)
racked (past plural)
rack (present subjunctive)
racked (past subjunctive)
rack (imperative present)
racking (participle present)
racked (participle past)

From Old English reċċan (“to stretch out, extend”).

inh

(firearms) To (manually) load (a round of ammunition) from the magazine or belt into firing position in an automatic or semiautomatic firearm.

(firearms) To move the slide bar on a shotgun in order to chamber the next round.


ninja

Enter the Ninja
Eric Van Lustbader
Hokusai Manga
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
ninja

A romanized borrowing of Japanese 忍者 (ninja), popularized within Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by Eric Van Lustbader's 1980 novel The Ninja and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja, of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person.
The “Mongolian miner” sense arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga.

The men... are now learning to be ninja or ‘stealers-in’.

1964, Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice, page 126:

Spies prowled Japan from the seventh century, but the secretive ninja left few written records.

(martial arts) A person trained in ninjutsu, especially (historical) one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.


adjutant

From Latin adiūtō, frequentative of adiuvō (“assist”). First attested in 17th century. Or from Latin adiuvāns, present participle of adiuvō, from iuvō (“help”). Doublet of adjuvant.

(military) A lower-ranking officer who assists a higher-ranking officer with administrative affairs.


meteor

From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, “to lift, to heave, to raise up”).
The original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon” gave rise to meteorology, but the meaning of "meteor" is now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.

(martial arts) A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.


tierce

From Old French tierce, from Latin tertia.

[W]e behold two men with lion-look, with alert attitude, side foremost, right foot advanced; flourishing and thrusting, stoccado and passado, in tierce and quart; intent to skewer one another.

1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):

(fencing) The third defensive position, with the sword hand held at waist height, and the tip of the sword at head height.


clout

en-noun

clout (countable and uncountable, plural clouts)

→ Irish: clabhta

From Middle English clout (“piece of cloth”), from Old English clūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gelewdos, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”). The influence sense originated in the dialect of Chicago, but has become widespread.
Cognate with Old Norse klútr (“kerchief”), Swedish klut, Danish klud, Middle High German klōz (“lump”), whence German Kloß, and dialectal Russian глуда (gluda). See also cleat.

der

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

For kings are clouts that euery man ſhoots at,
Our Crowne the pin that thouſands ſeeke to cleaue.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:

A’ must shoot nearer or he’ll ne’er hit the clout.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

(archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

(transitive, martial arts) To engage in sparring in the context of jujitsu or other grappling disciplines.


charge

en-noun

charge (countable and uncountable, plural charges)

From Middle English chargen, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricō (“to load”), from Latin carrus (“a car, wagon”); see car. Doublet of cargo.

Pickett's Charge; the Charge of the Light Brigade

(military) A ground attack against a prepared enemy.

(firearms) A measured amount of powder and/or shot in a cartridge.

to bring a weapon to the charge

(weaponry) A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack.


charge

en-verb

charge (third-person singular simple present charges, present participle charging, simple past and past participle charged)

charges (present singular third-person)
charging (participle present)
charged (participle past)
charged (past)

desc

→ Cantonese: 叉廚 /叉厨 (caa¹ cyu⁴), 叉 (caa¹)

→ Dutch: chargen

→ Kashubian: czardżowac (United States)

→ Malay: caj, cas

→ Sranan Tongo: tyars

→ Swahili: chaji

yükləmək

to place a burden upon, to assign a duty

yükləmək

to load equipment with material required for its use

The impetuous corps charged the enemy lines.

My Lord, we haue diſcouered the enemie
Readie to Charge you with a mightie army.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:

(intransitive) To move forward quickly and forcefully, particularly in combat and/or on horseback.

(military, transitive and intransitive) To attack by moving forward quickly in a group.

هَاجَمَ

military: to attack by moving forward quickly


halecret

halecrets (plural)
allecret (alternative)
hallecret (alternative)

First attested in English in 1536 as halkrig and 1540 as halkrik, taken to be from Middle French halecret, itself first attested in 1488 as aldecrez (plural) and 1489 as hallecretz (plural), of uncertain origin. Compare Breton halacred. Perhaps from Middle Dutch halscleet (“gorget”) (see hals (“neck, throat”), cleet (“piece of clothing”)), or related to German Halskragen.

The halecret was a kind of corcelet of tvvo pieces, one before and one behind, it was lighter than the cuiraſs.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, page 19:

(military, historical) A kind of light armour protecting the bust, used in the 16th century, usually thought to have been a corselet or light cuirass.


zoot suit

zoot suits (plural)
zootsuit (alternative)
zuit suit (alternative)

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

Zoot may be a Caló slang pronunciation of suit, thus making the term a tautology and reduplication.

Before his nap, Kaplan had put on all his clothes, including the wool-lined waterproof double-zippered survival suit nicknamed the zoot suit.

2019, Ellin Bessner, Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II:

(UK, military, slang) Synonym of goon suit (“waterproof rubber suit for pilots”)


cannonball

From cannon + ball from being a round ball that is fired from a cannon.

A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

kanonkoeël

An explosive-filled hollow iron sphere fused through a hole and intended to explode at a calculated distance rather than explode on impact.


bracer

From Middle English bracer, from Old French braceure; equivalent to brace + -er.

To prevent the bow string from hanging on the left arm, it is covered with a piece of smooth leather, fastened on the outside of the arm, this is called a bracer.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34:

(archery) A covering to protect the arm of the bowman from the vibration of the string.


morris

Another kind of pike called a morris, that is a Moorish pike, was much in fashion about the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 49:


fascine

The noun is borrowed from French fascine (“bundle of kindling; bundle of branches used to build defences, fill in ditches, etc.; logs arranged horizontally between piles on the banks of a watercourse as an erosion barrier”), from Old French faissine, from Latin fascīna (“bundle of sticks”), from fascis (“bundle of sticks, faggot, fascine; bundle, package; burden, load”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“band; bundle”)) + -īna (the nominative, vocative, or ablative feminine singular of -īnus (suffix forming nouns)).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Our forces being landed and ſtationed as I have already mentioned, ſet about erecting a faſchine battery to cannonade the principal fort of the enemy, and in ſomething more than three vveeks, it vvas ready to open.

1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter XXXII, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 284:

Halberts differ very little from the bill, being like them conſtructed both for puſhing and cutting: a halbert conſiſts of three parts, the ſpear, or ſometimes a kind of ſvvord blade for puſhing, an ax, or hatchet for ſtriking and cutting, and a flook or hook for pulling down faſcines, in the attack of trenches, or temporary fortifications.

1786, Francis Grose, “Morris Pikes”, in A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 51–52:

Verily the man must feel as though he were in a dream; only a short time before, at a shoemaker's ordinary work, the knocking of his hammer mingling with the sighs of a sick wife, and now, fascine knife on hip, helmet on closely cropped head, officers' commands in ear, crowds of people, drums, music, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive!—to march far away to Bohemia; […]

1889, Cornelia McFadden, chapter V, in The Seamstress of Stettin, Cincinnati, Oh.: Curtis & Jennings; New York, N.Y.: Eaton & Mains, →OCLC, pages 141–142:

armoured fighting vehicle
armoured fighting vehicle

(specifically, military fortification) A similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts.

фашина

cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts


mallet

From Middle English malet, maylet, from Old French mallet, maillet (“a wooden hammer, mallet”), diminutive of mal, mail (“a hammer”), from Latin malleus (“a hammer, mall, mallet”).

The Mallet of arms, according to the representation of it given by Father Daniel, exactly resembles the wooden instrument of that name, now in use, except in the length of the handle, it was like the hammer of arms, to be used with both hands, indeed it differed very little from that weapon in its form.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 51:

(weaponry) A weapon resembling the tool, but typically much larger.


morning star

en-noun

morning star (countable and uncountable, plural morning stars)

morning stars (plural)
morningstar (alternative)

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

From morning + star. Compare West Frisian moarnstjer, Dutch morgenster, German Morgenstern, Swedish morgonstjärna, Icelandic morgunstjarna. Application to Satan derives, like the corresponding sense of Lucifer (which see), from what is probably a misinterpretation of Isaiah 14:12 (NIV: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!").

Contrivances like these, except that the balls were armed with spikes, were long carried by the pioneers of the trained bands, or city militia, they are generally called morning stars.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, page 55:

(countable, weaponry) A weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, in contrast to a flail.


loot

R-run over an' wake up th' loot at th' station.

1898, Finley Peter Dunne, Mr. Dooley in Peace & War, page 11:

(US military slang, dated) Clipping of lieutenant.


click

From Middle English cleken, a variant of clechen (“to grab”), perhaps from Old English *clēċan, *clǣċan, a byform of clyċċan (“to clutch”). More at clutch.

inside click; outside click; cross click


immediate

en-adj

immediate (comparative more immediate, superlative most immediate)

more immediate (comparative)
most immediate (superlative)

From Old French immediat (French immédiat), borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without in-between, moderation”), from Latin in + mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to halve, to be in the middle”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”). By surface analysis, im- + mediate.

der

Bravo Three, this Bravo Six. Immediate! We are coming under fire from the north from an unknown enemy, over!

(procedure word, military) Used to denote that a transmission is urgent.

Hotel Two-Niner, this is Bravo Six. Immediate suppression at grid November-Kilo four-five-three two-one-five. Danger Close. I authenticate Golf Echo, over.

(procedure word, military) An artillery fire mission modifier for two types of fire mission to denote an immediate need for fire: Immediate smoke, all guns involved must reload smoke and fire. Immediate suppression, all guns involved fire the rounds currently loaded and then switch to high explosive with impact fused (unless fuses are specified).


smelly

A comical pronunciation of the initials SMLE.

(firearms, informal) a Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle or one of its derivatives.


bayonet

From French baïonnette, named after the French town of Bayonne, where the plug bayonet was invented.

Fig. 3. Its bayonet, to be fixed by sticking the handle into the muzzle of the musquet.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page xvi:

“Well, the proper way to kill a man with a bayonet is this: First you thrust it in under the ribs—here.”

1997, Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; republished New York: Vintage Books, 1998, →ISBN, page 515:

(military) A blade mounted to the end of a long gun, originally with a handle inserted into the bore, now usually attached underbarrel.


lance

From Middle English launce, from Old French lance, from Latin lancea.

(military) A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.

(military) An instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordnance and forces it home.

Harpune mit Sprenggeschoss

(military) instrument which conveys the charge of a piece of ordinance


hermaphrodite

From Hermaphroditus, the mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who merged bodies with a naiad, thereafter having both male and female qualities.

deledash

organism having both male and female gonads

(World War I military, historical) An armoured fighting vehicle having features of both male tanks and female tanks.


bounty

en-noun

bounty (countable and uncountable, plural bounties)

From Middle English bounte (“goodness, virtue; beauty; strength; chivalry, valour; excellence; kindness, mercy; good deed; generosity”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounté and Old French bonté, bontet, bunté (modern French bonté (“goodness, kindness”)), from Latin bonitās.

nb...

bonte, bontie, bount, bounte, bountee, bountie, bownte, bunte, bwnte

It was in the army to which bounties were thus given to privates, that the memorialists were officers; and gallant officers the history of that war amply proves they were. If the soldiers of that army and even the heirs of those who volunteered their services for a given and short period, but who were killed or died in service, had such large recognized claims on the bounty of the nation, it is not, [...] easily to be perceived why their officers, [...] have not claims equally strong.

1831 March 1, “[Appendix to the Register of Debates in Congress.] Lands to Officers in the Late War.”, in Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Twenty-first Congress: […], volume VII, Washington, D.C.: Printed and published by Gales and Seaton, →OCLC, page cxvii, column 1:

There is, in this case, not a particle of evidence tending even to show that the soldier ever received any bounty or gratuity on account of any or all of his service except $66.66, two-thirds of the amount of bounty payable under the act of July 22, 1861, [...]

1904 March 23, M. W. Miller, “Evidence—Burden of Proof—Joint Resolution July 1, 1902—Practice. Catherine A., Widow of Isaac P. Brown, alias Albert B. Cole.”, in John W. Bixler, editor, Decisions of the Department of the Interior in Appealed Pension and Bounty-land Claims; […], volume XIV, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 377:

(countable) A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.

(military, historical) Money paid to a person when becoming a member of the armed forces, or as a reward for some service therein.

prime

money paid to a person when becoming a member of the armed forces, or as a reward for some service therein


clay

en-noun

clay (usually uncountable, plural clays)

soul

antonym(s) of “material of the human body”

From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”).
Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūten (“glue”) (whence ultimately English glue), Russian глина (glina, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.

der

We went shooting clays at the weekend.


octave

From Latin octavus (“eighth”). Doublet of octavo, ochava, and oitava.

Octave in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

If they always do a lateral parry quarte, and never a semicircular octave, that gives you an opening.

2009, Ray Finkleman, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(fencing) The eighth defensive position, with the sword hand held at waist height, and the tip of the sword out straight at knee level.


salient

en-adj

salient (comparative more salient, superlative most salient)

more salient (comparative)
most salient (superlative)

The heraldic sense “leaping” and the sense “projecting outward” are borrowed from Latin salientem, the accusative form of saliēns (“springing, leaping”), present participle of saliō (“leap, spring”, verb). The senses “prominent” and “pertinent” are relatively recent, and derive from the phrase salient point, which is a calque of the Latin punctum saliēns, a translation of Aristotle's term for the embryonal heart visible in (opened) eggs, which he thought seemed to move already. Compare also the German calque der springende Punkt.

a salient angle

(often military) Projecting outwards, pointing outwards.


salient

sally

to leap forth; cognate; both of these military terms come from a verb meaning but in different ways

On April 26 the First Division had gone into the line in the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battlefront.

1919, “General Pershing's Story”, in Americans Defending Democracy: Our Soldiers' Own Stories, World's War Stories, Inc., page 9:

The battlefronts were often no more than a few hundred yards wide, and the salients never more than a few miles deep.

1978, Jan Morris, chapter 9, in Farewell the Trumpets, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, page 193:

(military) An outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.


spy

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).
The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

ncog

The dead leap at the throat, destroy
The meaning of the day; dark forms
Have scaled your walls, and spies betray
Old secrets to amorphous swarms.

1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 4:

Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

(espionage) A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).


presentation

en-noun

presentation (countable and uncountable, plural presentations)

presentations (plural)
præsentation (alternative)

/ˌpɹɛzənˈteɪʃən/

From Old French presentation (French présentation), from Latin praesentātiōnem, accusative singular of praesentātiō (“representation, exhibition”).
Morphologically present + -ation

(fencing) Offering one's blade for engagement by the opponent.


repeat

en-verb

repeat (third-person singular simple present repeats, present participle repeating, simple past and past participle repeated)

repeats (present singular third-person)
repeating (participle present)
repeated (participle past)
repeated (past)

From Middle English repeten, from Old French repeter, from Latin repetō, repetere, from the prefix re- (“again”) + peto (“attack, beseech”).

Add 100, left 50. Repeat, over.

Use "say again" instead of repeat on the radio. Repeat will bring in artillery fire.

(procedure word, military) To call in a previous artillery fire mission with the same ammunition and method either on the coordinates or adjusted either because destruction of the target was insufficient or missed.


parapet

From Middle French parapet, from Italian parapetto.

Obviously if you have only a few days in which to train a soldier, you must teach him the things he will most need; how to take cover, how to advance across open ground, how to mount guards and build a parapet – above all, how to use his weapons.

1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

(military) A fortification consisting of a wall.


prime

composite

prime element of a mathematical structure

From Middle English prime, from Old French prime and its etymon, Latin prīmus (“first”), from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond, before”). Doublet of primo and primus.
The noun sense "apostrophe-like symbol" originates from the fact that the symbol ′ was originally a superscript Roman numeral one.

der

(fencing) The first defensive position, with the sword hand held at head height, and the tip of the sword at head height.


return

en-verb

return (third-person singular simple present returns, present participle returning, simple past and past participle returned)

returns (present singular third-person)
returning (participle present)
returned (participle past)
returned (past)
returne (alternative obsolete)
retvrn (alternative Internet)

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). Compare beturn.

der

(fencing) To give a thrust or cut after parrying a sword-thrust.


speedball

en-noun

speedball (countable and uncountable, plural speedballs)

speedballs (plural)
speed ball (alternative)
speed-ball (alternative)

(military, aviation) An improvised adhoc airdrop resupply pack, composed of ammo, food and water, and other supplies, stuffed into a body bag or duffle bag.

(boxing) Synonym of speed bag (“type of punching bag”)


command

command (countable and uncountable, plural commands)

From Middle English commanden, commaunden, comaunden, comanden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre, from Latin commendāre. Ultimately from Latin com- + mandō (whence ultimately also commend (a doublet), mandate, and recommend), from manus + -dō.
Compare typologically Russian поручи́ть (poručítʹ), поруче́ние (poručénije), руководи́ть (rukovodítʹ), руководи́тель (rukovodítelʹ) related to рука́ (ruká).

I asked myself what I was to do there, now my boat was lost. As a matter of fact, I had plenty to do in fishing my command out of the river.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

Filing a complaint against a police officer in New Bedford without the benefit of witnesses is difficult, if not impossible. The police command, from sergeant to chief, is summarily defensive of the actions of police officers.

1977 August 20, David Brill, “Civil Custody Law Harasses New Bedford Gays”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 3:

(military) A body or troops, or any naval or military force, under the control of a particular officer; by extension, any object or body in someone's charge.


kung fu

kung fu (countable and uncountable, plural kung fu)

kung fu (plural)
gongfu (alternative)
gong-fu (alternative)
gong fu (alternative)
gungfu (alternative)
gung-fu (alternative)
gung fu (alternative)
kungfu (alternative)
kung-fu (alternative)
Kung Fu (alternative)

From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 功夫 (gōngfu, “skill, accomplishment, martial art”): kung¹-fu⁵.

bor

Along the way, they meet Master Wong, who teaches them kung fu and imparts nuggets of Chinese philosophy, knowledge and training that they eventually use to defeat their nemesis and save their village.

2021 March 31, Melissa Chen, “Opinion ‘Kung Fu Cavemen’ isn’t racist — just the victim of moral panic by a self-righteous few”, in New York Post:

(martial arts) The Chinese martial arts collectively.


triage

en-noun

triage (countable and uncountable, plural triages)

From French triage, from trier (“to sort”).

Similarly, any group of sidings is known to army railway personnel as a "triage". This word is derived from the French verb trier, which means literally "to sort," and hence "triage" has become the common army expression for a marshalling yard.

1943 September and October, “Military and Civil Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 257:

(rail transport, military, British) A marshalling yard, classification yard.


passenger

/ˈpæsɪnd͡ʒɚ/

/ˈpæsənd͡ʒɚ/

/ˈpæsɪnd͡ʒə/

/ˈpæsənd͡ʒə/

From Old French passagier with intrusive n (see etymology of messenger).

(military) Any of the individual warheads of a MIRV missile.


gob

Well I have taken the oath of allegiance for 4 years service anywhere in the world and am now a real 'gob' in the U. S. Navy.

1918 October 22, Letter of Adlai Stevenson, quoted in John Bartlow Martin, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976), page 53

If it weren't for the Fleet I should scarcely be able to endure it. Gobs are always amusing, as you know.

Full-cut, dashing "gob" slacks with back pocket.

1937, Stella Blum, Everyday Fashion of the Thirties as pictured in Sears Catalogs, published 1986, page 94:

1944 November, Fitting the Gob to the Job, Popular Mechanics, page 18,
For the first time in history, new warship crews are virtually “prefabricated” by modern methods of fitting the gob to the job.

1948 June, Fred B. Barton, Mending Broken Gobs, The Rotarian, page 22,
Taking a safe average of 2,000 rehabilitated young gobs a year, that′s a total of 100,000 years of salvaged manhood, a target worth shooting at.


willy

(espionage) A person who is manipulated into serving as a useful agent without knowing it.


guardian

→ Japanese: ガーディアン (gādian)

/ˈɡɑː.dɪ.ən/

From Middle English gardein, garden, (also wardein, > Modern English warden), from Old French guardein, from the verb guarder, of Germanic origin. Compare French gardien. Doublet of warden. By surface analysis, guard + -ian.

United States Space Force
United States Space Force

(US military) A servicemember of the United States Space Force.


gorge

From Middle English gorge (“esophagus, gullet; throat; bird's crop; food in a hawk's crop; food or drink that has been eaten”), a borrowing from Old French gorge (“throat”) (modern French gorge (“throat; breast”)), from Vulgar Latin *gorga, *gurga, from Latin gurges (“eddy, whirlpool; gulf; sea”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour, swallow; to eat”). The English word is cognate with Galician gorxa (“throat”), Italian gorga, gorgia (“gorge, ravine; (obsolete) throat”), Occitan gorga, gorja, Portuguese gorja (“gullet, throat; gorge”), Spanish gorja (“gullet, throat; gorge”). Doublet of gour.

cog

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

Half Moon. An Outwork conſiſting of two Faces, which makes an Angle Salient, the Gorge whereof bends in like a Bow, or Creſcent, and were formerly us'd to cover the Point of a Baſtion, which diſtinguiſhes them from Ravelins, always plac'd before the Curtin; […]

1745, “Half Moon”, in An Introduction to the Art of Fortification. […], London: Printed for and sold by John Brindley, […], →OCLC, column 1:

Ramps lead from the gorges of the bastions down to these outlets into the main ditch. […] To keep open the communication between the bastions, a gallery between their gorges is made along the curtain wall.

1874, D[ennis] H[art] Mahan, “Modifications Proposed in the Bastioned System”, in J. B. Wheeler, editor, An Elementary Course of Permanent Fortification, for the Use of the Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: John Wiley & Son, […], →OCLC, paragraph 236, page 127:

Construction on this massive fort was never completed. […] Only the foundations and a few tiers of stone were completed on the two gorge walls and the gorge bastion. At this point, a significant modification in design was made. […] In this way, the gorge of the fort was closed at minimum expense.

2018 June, John R. Weaver II, “New York City”, in A Legacy in Brick and Stone: American Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, 1816–1867, 2nd edition, McLean, Va.: Redoubt Press, McGovern Publishing, →ISBN, page 164, column 1:

(architecture, military, fortification) The rearward side of an outwork, a bastion, or a fort, often open, or not protected against artillery; a narrow entry passage into the outwork of an enclosed fortification.


blind

blinds (plural)
blinde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English blynd, from Old English blind, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.


melee

en-noun

melee (countable and uncountable, plural melees)

melees (plural)
mêlée (alternative)
melée (alternative)

Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley.

Honestly, a lot of what this episode did right had more to do with the scenes that surrounded the enormous melee than those hyper-edited clashes of swords.

2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-05-31:

The attack also afforded Helena to a front-seat view of literal air-to-air melee combat, as one Wildcat pilot of the Cactus Air Force, who was swooping in to help break up the attack, found himself out of machine-gun ammo; instead, he dropped his landing gear, positioned himself above the nearest bomber, and begun beating it to death, in midair, using his landing gear as clubs. After a bit of evasive action that the fighter easily kept up with, the repeated slamming broke something important, and the bomber spiralled down into the sea.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 5:50 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-10-17:

(especially military, gaming) A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

(military, historical) A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.


salvo

A 1719 alteration of salva (“simultaneous discharge of guns”) (1591) from Latin salva (“salute, volley”) (compare French salve, also from Italian), from Latin salve (“hail”), the usual Roman greeting, imperative of salvere (“to be in good health”).

(military) A concentrated fire from pieces of artillery, as in endeavoring to make a break in a fortification; a volley.


Walt

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty

Clipping of Walter. The derogatory British sense is a reference to the fictional character Walter Mitty from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a mild-mannered pushover who has wild fantasies about his life in various daring roles.

You're just a bloody Walt!

(UK, military, derogatory, slang) Someone who impersonates a veteran (retired member of the armed forces).


RMA

RMA (countable and uncountable, plural RMAs)

Several of the recruits had special leadership responsibilities within the Company, the most significant being the Recruit Chief Petty Officer (RCPO) and the Recruit Master at Arms (RMA). […] The person responsible for being RCPO changed during the end of our training, but the RMA, who was responsible for maintaining good order and discipline, did not make it past the mid point.

2013, David Banagis, Twenty-Three Days at Sea: A Sailor's Story, Bloomington, IN: Abbott Press, →ISBN, page 12:

(US, military) Initialism of recruit master-at-arms; also RMAA.


baton

(military) A ceremonial staff of a field marshal or a similar high-ranking military office.

(weaponry, US) A short stout club used primarily by policemen.


drib

en-verb

drib (third-person singular simple present dribs, present participle dribbing, simple past and past participle dribbed)

dribs (present singular third-person)
dribbing (participle present)
dribbed (participle past)
dribbed (past)

From dialectal English drib (compare also drub), a variant from Middle English drepen (“to hit, strike, slay”), from Old English drepan (“to strike, kill, overcome”), from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to hit, strike”).

inh

(transitive, archery) To shoot directly at short range.

(intransitive, archery) To shoot at a mark at short range.

Not at first sight, nor with a dribbèd shot, / Love gave the wound […]

c. 1580s, Philip Sidney, “Astrophel and Stella”, in [Mary Sidney], editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] [The New Arcadia], 3rd edition, London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1598, →OCLC, sonnet 2, page 519:

(transitive, archery) To shoot (a shaft) so as to pierce on the descent.


fib

en-verb

fib (third-person singular simple present fibs, present participle fibbing, simple past and past participle fibbed)

fibs (present singular third-person)
fibbing (participle present)
fibbed (participle past)
fibbed (past)

Fib the cove's quarron in the rumpad for the lour in his bung; beat the fellow in the highway for the money in his purse.

1785, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, published 1788, To Fib:

The Chicken himself attributed this punishment to his having had the misfortune to get into Chancery early in the proceedings, when he was severely fibbed by the Larkey one, and heavily grassed.

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:

As Biggs and his party arrived, I heard Hawkins say to Berry, "For heaven’s sake, my boy, fib with your right, and mind his left hand!"

1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Fight at Slaughter House”, in Men's Wives, page 16:

Then there was a wild scuffle and a furious outcry, and all the bargemen for a moment seemed to hug me and themselves too; when, as there was no room to hit out, in the phraseology of the ring, I fibbed at half-a-dozen waistcoats and faces with all my might and main.

1865, Grantley Berkeley, “Eton Boys”, in My Life and Recollections, volume 1, page 311:

Quoth he, "Thou dost surely jest when thou sayest that thou dost not understand such words. Answer me this: Hast thou ever fibbed a chouse quarrons in the Rome pad for the loure in his bung?"

1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part sixth, page 207:

(archaic, thieves' cant, boxing) To punch, especially a series of punches in rapid succession; to beat; to hit; to strike.


fletch

A modification of fledge (“to acquire feathers”) due to the influence of fletcher (“arrow-maker”). Compare flèche.

(archery) The vane toward the back of an arrow, used to stabilise the arrow during flight.


gouge

en-noun

gouge (countable and uncountable, plural gouges)

From Middle English gouge (“chisel with concave blade; gouge”), from Old French gouge, goi (“gouge”), from Late Latin goia, gubia, gulbia (“chisel; piercer”), borrowed from Gaulish *gulbiā, from Proto-Celtic *gulbā, *gulbi, *gulbīnos (“beak, bill”). The English word is cognate with Italian gorbia, gubbia (“ferrule”), Old Breton golb, Old Irish gulba (“beak”), Portuguese goiva, Scottish Gaelic gilb (“chisel”), Spanish gubia (“chisel, gouge”), Welsh gylf (“beak; pointed instrument”), gylyf (“sickle”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

inh

As all naval aviators have learned at one time or another in their careers, “There's plenty of bad gouge out there," and it has, does, and will get the unwary fliers in trouble.

2005, Jay A. Stout, To Be a U.S. Naval Aviator, page 63:

The Marines and “Coasties” (the nickname for Coast Guard students) were reputed to have good gouge on each class's test. Rumor had it that the Marines had inside information on the questions for the next day's FRR test, […]

2013, Douglas Waller, Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot, page 89:

(US, military, slang, uncountable) Information.


nape

RHAH: They got through Alpha Company! Anything behind you don't identify itself, blow it away. Two - air strike's coming in. They gonna lay snake and nape right on the perimeter so stay tight in your holes and don't leave 'em.

1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)


nape

en-verb

nape (third-person singular simple present napes, present participle naping, simple past and past participle naped)

napes (present singular third-person)
naping (participle present)
naped (participle past)
naped (past)

(transitive, military, slang) To bombard with napalm.


piker

From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as well as to Pike County in eastern Missouri https://web.archive.org/web/20051111194645/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0300200.html. In the latter instance the term originally denoted poor immigrants to California.

Upstairs in a waiting room there were pikers whose tunics echoed Baudricourt′s gold lion shield painted up and down the rafters.

1974, Thomas Keneally, Blood Red, Sister Rose, page 82:

By 1600, the ratio of pikers to gunmen was roughly 3:2. By mid-century the ratio was only 1:2, and by 1670 there was just one piker to every three gunmen in the French Army.

2008, Cathal J. Nolan, Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650-1715: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, page 363:

(military, historical) A soldier armed with a pike, a pikeman.


rep

en-noun

rep (countable and uncountable, plural reps)

Clippings of various words beginning with rep.

[…] and Henry Riser is still waiting for official casualty reps and family info on Doug Wheless.

1993, United States Military Academy. Association of Graduates, Assembly, volumes 52, issues 1-3, page 149:

A shell report, or "shell rep," was supposed to be sent in by any man who witnessed the fall of enemy artillery fire.

1996, Don Congdon, Combat World War II, volume 1, page 531:

(military, in combination) Clipping of report.


rick

No turning back now rick, you are the property of the US government now.

(military, derogatory and demeaning) A brand new (naive) boot camp inductee.


ruff

I also used quite a few of the flat-fingered kind of ruff (as used before on the doumbek in the baladi section) to embellish some notes.

2003, Rob Lewis, “3 Camps: Rudimental Drum Solo”, in Crosstraining: A Method for Applying Rhythms and Techniques to Drum Set, Hand Percussion and Mallet Instruments, Pacific, Mo.: Mel Bay Productions, →ISBN, part 6 (Rudiments and Rudimental Solos), page 71:

(music, often military) A low, vibrating beat of a drum, quieter than a roll; a ruffle.


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.


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

Coordinate term: muzzle

(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).


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.


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.


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.


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)


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


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


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”).

(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 and recoup.
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.


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.