gunfire

gunfire (usually uncountable, plural gunfires)

Killing people became much easier and faster once armies started using gunfire.

(chiefly military) The use of gunpowder-type weapons, mainly cannon, as opposed to swords or bayonets.

Art. 33. All Plying boats, with the exception of two which are to be weekly appoin[t]ed by the Chief Commissary of Police and Harbour Master, and at gunfire in the evening to be placed in a tier alongside of the Quay or at a place to be pointed out by these Officers and fastened by a claim and a padlock, the key of which is to be kept by the Porter on duty or by the Police Guard who is to release them at gunfire in the morning.

1851, W. Draper Bolton, Bolton's Mauritius almanac, and official directory:

The grand event on the 14th was the shooting for the second stage for the Queen's prize. This commenced punctually at gunfire in the morning : the men being divided into four squads at the long ranges on the north side of the common.

1864, Edmund Burke, editor, The Annual Register; A review of public events at home and abroad, for the year 1863:

(military) The time of firing of the morning gun or the evening gun.

鳴炮時間 /鸣炮时间

They had only in them the rolled mattresses, the neatly piled bed-boards and the empty tea-buckets of the orderly-men, empied of their last gun-fire.

(army slang) Tea, a cup of tea, especially one served early in the morning before first parade.


GFE

en-noun

GFE (countable and uncountable, plural GFEs)

(Google): Introduced by sex columnist Dan Savage.

(US, military) Initialism of government-furnished equipment: equipment in the possession of or acquired directly by the government, and subsequently delivered to or otherwise made available to the contractor.


cyclic

en-adj

cyclic (comparative more cyclic, superlative most cyclic)

more cyclic (comparative)
most cyclic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek κυκλικός (kuklikós). Possibly from cycle + -ic.

On it came, closer and closer, and as it did so it became clear that the pilot, if he was alive, had terminal intentions. Though the torpedo somehow missed, the plane itself did not. To those watching helplessly from other stations, the ship's antiaircraft gunners, in their final moments, were an inspiration: eyes focused through iron sights on the plane as it sped at them, weapons hot, going cyclic, hunched down and never flinching until the Betty struck high on the mainmast, killing them all.

2011, James D. Hornfischer, “26: Suicide”, in Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, retrieved 2022-12-17, page 256:

(firearms, of an automatic weapon) Firing at its full cyclic rate.


tactics

(military) The military science that deals with achieving the objectives set by strategy.

(military) The employment and ordered arrangement of forces in relation to each other.


tanker

Without the KC-46 tankers orbiting in friendly airspace, our fighters would've run out of fuel long before reaching the combat zone.

(aviation, usually military) An aircraft carrying a large supply of jet fuel or avgas for aerial refueling of other aircraft, plus equipment allowing the in-air transfer of fuel.

On February 19, 1943, American tankers felt the full wrath of the German Army in North Africa when its tank-led spearhead punched a 2-mile-wide hole through American lines at Faid Pass in Tunisia, […]

2014, Michael Green, American Tanks & AFVs of World War II, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 70:

(military) Member of a tank crew, or of an armoured unit.


battle honours

(naval) The names of battles and actions in which a warship (or a previous namesake) has taken part, usually displayed on a board in a prominent position


fighter plane

(aircraft, military) A military aircraft primarily designed to attack enemy aircraft. Frequently shortened to fighter.


fighter-bomber

(military aviation) A military aircraft designed to operate in combined roles of attacking enemy aircraft and bombing targets; usually faster and more maneuverable than a traditional bomber.


Grand Slam

(military) A ten-tonne earthquake bomb used by the Royal Air Force in World War II; see Grand Slam (bomb) on Wikipedia.


epicentre

epicentres (plural)
epicenter (alternative US)

/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntɚ/

/ˈɛpɪˌsɛntə/

From epi- (“over, on top”) + centre, from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”).
Sense of “center of an activity (particularly a disaster)” (1908) by generalization from earthquakes, possibly influenced by epidemic.

(military) The point on the surface of the earth directly above an underground explosion.


AFK

I'm gonna go AFK in a few mins

(military, video games, Internet slang) Initialism of away from keyboard (that is, away from one's computer; idle)


fistmele

From fist + mele, variant of meal (“measure”), from Old English mæl.

(archery) A traditional unit of distance equal to the width of a clenched fist with the thumb extended (approx. 6½ inches or 16½ centimetres).


doghead

(firearms) That part of a matchlock or flintlock gun or rifle that holds the burning fuse or flint and applies it to the gunpowder.


SLR

(firearms) Initialism of self-loading rifle.


open-source

open source (alternative)
opensource (alternative)

open-source intelligence

The ramifications of disinformation spill on to the streets with tangible, often devastating real-world consequences. These processes were already under way in 2014, when I founded the open-source investigative group Bellingcat.

2023 December 16, Eliot Higgins, “Moment of truth”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1:

(espionage) Relying on publicly available information (open sources).


open source

Compound of open + source, coined by Christine Peterson in 1998 for software as an umbrella term to encompass existing concepts such as free software, freedomware, and sourceware.

(espionage) Information that is in the public domain and available to everybody.


sarge

From sergeant, q.v. In reference to PUA slang, coined by American writer and television personality Ross Jeffries after the behavior of his cat Sarge.

coinage

(military, colloquial) Short for sergeant.


inner

outer

antonym(s) of “One who supports remaining in the EU”

From Middle English inner, ynner, ynnere, from Old English innera, comparative of inne (“within”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁en.

(military, firearms) The 2nd circle on a target, between the bull (or bull's eye) and magpie.


I-HAWK

(military) Acronym of Improved homing-all-the-way killer, a type of missile.


mountain unit

(military) A type of military unit armed, equipped and trained to fight in rugged, mountainous terrain.


mining

en-noun

mining (countable and uncountable, plural minings)

→ Russian: ма́йнинг (májning)

(military) The activity of placing mines (the explosive devices).


pavilion

From Middle English pavilloun, from Anglo-Norman pavilloun, from Latin pāpiliōnem, form of pāpiliō (“butterfly, moth”) (due to resemblance of tent to a butterfly’s wings), of unknown origin. Doublet of papillon.
Cognate to French pavillon (“pavilion”) and papillon (“butterfly”), and similar terms in other Romance languages.

A flag or ensign carried at the gaff of the mizzenmast.


God botherer

(UK, military slang) A military chaplain.


SAS

The SAS are absolutely charming. Ruthless trained killers are just a phone call away.

2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by Prime Minister (Hugh Grant):

He was the last original member of the SAS, whose exploits were dramatised in the BBC series SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022), based on the 2016 book of the same name by Ben Macintyre.

2024 January 14, Michael Smith, “Mike Sadler obituary”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Special Air Service
Special Air Service#English

(British, Australia, New Zealand, military) Initialism of Special Air Service.


SBS

Special Boat Service
w:Special Boat Service

(UK, military) Initialism of Special Boat Service, an elite unit of the British Royal Marines, similar to the SAS but operating in a naval environment.


dum dum

dum dums (plural)
dum-dum (alternative)
dumdum (alternative)

Named after the Dum Dum arsenal in Calcutta, India.

(informal, firearms) A soft point or hollow point bullet, designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more serious damage.


soft point

(firearms) Of a bullet: having an exposed lead point, designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more damage.


soft point

soft points (plural)
soft-point (alternative)

Coordinate term: hollow point


hollow point

(firearms) A bullet with a small hole drilled or molded in the tip (nose), designed to expand when it hits its target and therefore cause more damage.


muzzle blast

(firearms) A flash of light, heat and smoke at the muzzle of a firearm, caused by escaping gases when a projectile is released.


muzzle brake

(firearms) A device placed at the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the recoil energy by redirecting the escaping gases.


recoil

recoil (countable and uncountable, plural recoils)

From Old French reculer. Further from Latin re- + cūlus.

(firearms) The energy transmitted back to the shooter from a firearm which has fired. Recoil is a function of the weight of the weapon, the weight of the projectile, and the speed at which it leaves the muzzle.


recoil

en-verb

recoil (third-person singular simple present recoils, present participle recoiling, simple past and past participle recoiled)

recoils (present singular third-person)
recoiling (participle present)
recoiled (participle past)
recoiled (past)

(weaponry) Of a firearm: to quickly push back when fired.


observer

The only crew-member to survive the crash was the Canadian observer.

(military) A crew member on an aircraft who makes observations of enemy positions or aircraft

We waited till dusk when the observers' vision was poorest.

(military) A sentry etc. manning an observation post


occupy

occupy (third-person singular simple present occupies, present participle occupying, simple past and past participle occupied)

occupies (present singular third-person)
occupying (participle present)
occupied (participle past)
occupied (past)
occupy (infinitive)
occupy (first-person present singular)
occupied (first-person past singular)
occupy (present second-person singular)
occupiest (archaic present second-person singular)
occupied (past second-person singular)
occupies (present singular third-person)
occupieth (archaic present singular third-person)
occupied (past singular third-person)
occupy (plural present)
occupied (past plural)
occupy (present subjunctive)
occupied (past subjunctive)
occupy (imperative present)
occupying (participle present)
occupied (participle past)

From Middle English occupien, occupyen, borrowed from Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre (“to take possession of, seize, occupy, take up, employ”), from ob (“to, on”) + capiō (“to take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to seize, grab”). Doublet of occupate, now obsolete.

der

The Japanese can occupy but cannot hold, and what they can hold they cannot hold long, was the opinion of General Pai Chung-hsi, Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese Army, […]

1940, The China monthly review, volumes 94-95, page 370:

Rupert, with his usual untamable energy, was scouring the country — but at first in the wrong direction, that of Aylesbury, another keypoint in the outer ring of Oxford defences, which he occupied but could not hold.

1975, Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford, King Charles and King Pym, 1637-1643, page 330:

One of the rebel marksmen, who had taken up position on a boulder, was knocked off it by the recoil of his weapon every time he fired. Again the attack achieved nothing. Positions were occupied, but could not be held.

1983, Arthur Keppel-Jones, Rhodes and Rhodesia: The White Conquest of Zimbabwe, 1884-1902, page 462:

Germany occupied France for three years while France struggled to make payments that were a condition of surrender.

1991, Werner Spies, John William Gabriel, Max Ernst collages: the invention of the surrealist universe, page 333:

Spain occupied, but could not populate, and its failure to expand Florida led Britain to consider the peninsula a logical extension of its colonial holdings.

2006, John Michael Francis, Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, page 496:

(military) To have, or to have taken, possession or control of (a territory).


nav

Standing and moving to under one of the lights by the nav station I could see a dark blue-red mark across the right side of my rib cage. Prodding gently I realised I had just cracked or broken one or more ribs.

2013, Crispin Latymer, Where the Ocean Meets the Sky, page 48:

(transport, military, Internet) Navigation. Often used attributively, as in nav beacon.


Janet

→ Welsh: Sioned

From Jane + -et, q.v. Chiefly Scottish until the 19th century.
Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.

doublet

(US, military slang) A highly classified fleet of passenger aircraft used to transport the military and contractors.


revolver

→ Catalan: revòlver

→ Chuvash: ляворвăр (ljavorvăr)

→ Crimean Tatar: revolver

→ Danish: revolver

→ Dutch: revolver

→ Esperanto: revolvero

→ Finnish: revolveri

→ French: revolver

→ Gagauz: livorver

→ Galician: revólver

→ German: Revolver

→ Hungarian: revolver

→ Italian: revolver

→ Japanese: リボルバー (riborubā)

Norwegian:

→ Norwegian Bokmål: revolver

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: revolver

→ Polish: rewolwer

→ Portuguese: revólver

→ Russian: револьвер (revolʹver)

Serbo-Croatian:

→ Cyrillic script: револвер

→ Latin script: revolver

→ Spanish: revólver

→ Swedish: revolver

→ Urum: levorver

→ Yiddish: רעוואָלווער (revolver)

From revolve + er, coined by American inventor Samuel Colt in 1835.

coin

(firearms) A handgun with a revolving chamber enabling several shots to be fired without reloading.


drawdown

en-noun

drawdown (countable and uncountable, plural drawdowns)

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

The presidential drawdown authority, a US foreign policy tool, allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries in crisis.

2023 December 27, “US to provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

The act of reduction or depletion (including through withdrawal or utilization).

(US, military, law, in particular) The withdrawal of weapons, ammunition and other supplies from US stocks, and provision of it to another nation.


dragoon

Battle of Cerro Gordo
Battle of Jena–Auerstedt
Mexican–American War
Smithsonian Institution
Édouard Detaille

The noun is borrowed from French dragon (“dragon (mythological creature); type of cavalry soldier, dragoon”) (originally referring to a soldier armed with the firearm of the same name (sense 1.1)), ultimately from Latin dracō (“dragon; kind of serpent or snake”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drắkōn, “dragon; serpent”), possibly from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see, see clearly (in the sense of something staring)”), from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”)). Doublet of Draco, dracone, and dragon.
The verb is either derived:
* from the noun; or
* from French dragonner (“to force (someone) into doing something, coerce; to torment (oneself)”), from dragon (noun) (see above) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

ref

From the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., United States.

From the collection of the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum) in Paris, France.

der

[A] Lieutenant of a Troupe of compleat armed French Piſtoliers, is reputed better in degree then a Captaine of an hundred Foot, a Lieutenant of the late inuented Dragoones (being not aboue ſixteene inche Barrell, and full Muſquet bore) the Foot-Captaines equall, and the Lieutenant of a Troupe of Harquebuſsiers or Carbines his immediate younger brother.

1622, Francis Markham, “Epist[le] 5. To the Right Honorable William Lord Peter of Writtle. The Argument. Of the Captaine of Horse.”, in Five Decades of Epistles of Warre, London: […] Augustine Matthewes, →OCLC, decad 4, pages 137–138:

(weaponry, historical) Synonym of dragon (“a type of musket with a short, large-calibre barrel and a flared muzzle, metaphorically exhaling fire like a mythical dragon”)

dragon

[T]he Lovv-countries haue produced another ſort of Horſe-men, vvhich their experience there haue found out to be of notable vſe, and they call them Dragoons, vvhich I knovv not vvhether I may tearme them Foot-Horſe-men, or Horſe-Footmen: for they are Muſquetiers on horſebacke, and are imployed for the taking and maintaining, or at leaſt for preuenting the enemy from taking of Paſſages or Foords vvhich leade ouer Riuers: […]

1622, Francis Markham, “Epist[le] 1. To the Right Honourable William Lord Evers. The Argument. Of the Officers of Caualarie.”, in Five Decades of Epistles of Warre, London: […] Augustine Matthewes, →OCLC, decad 3, page 83:

[Y]oung Emir-Hamza-mirza Abbas his eldeſt on (inheriting his Uncles vertue as vvell as name) vvith a ſtrong body of Horſe and Dragoons confronting the Baſſa near to Sultany gave him ſuch a bruſh that the Turk retreated as far back as Van: […]

1677, Tho[mas] Herbert, Some Yeares Travels into Divers Parts of Africa, and Asia the Great. […], 4th edition, London: […] R. Everingham, for R. Scot, T. Basset, J[ohn] Wright, and R. Chiswell, →OCLC, page 287:

The French persecution more inhuman than ever. The Protestants in Savoy successfully resist the French dragoons sent to murder them.

1686 June 12 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 2 June 1686]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 629:

No man ſhall ever perſuade me, no not the Biſhop of Meaux [Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet] vvith all his Eloquence, that Priſons and Tortures, Dragoons and the Galleys, are proper means to convince the Underſtanding, and either Chriſtian or Human methods of converting men to the true Religion.

1692 November 6 (Gregorian calendar), John Tillotson, “Sermon XLI. A Thanksgiving-sermon for the Late Victory at Sea. Preached before the King and Queen at Whitehall, October 27. 1692. Jer[emiah] IX. 23, 24.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC, page 416:

A German Dragoon as I thought him, gave me a rude Blovv vvith the Stock of his Piece on the Side of my Head, and vvas juſt going to repeat it, vvhen one of my Men ſhot him dead.

[1720], [Daniel Defoe], “Part I”, in Memoirs of a Cavalier: Or A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany, and the Wars in England; from the Year 1632, to the Year 1648. […], London: […] A. Bell […], J. Osborn […], W[illiam] Taylor […], and T. Warner […], →OCLC, page 126:

Near the capital lay also the corps which is now designated as the first regiment of dragoons on the English establishment. […] A single troop of dragoons, which did not form part of any regiment, was stationed near Berwick, for the purpose of keeping the peace among the mosstroopers of the border. For this species of service the dragoon was then thought to be peculiarly qualified. He has since become a mere horse soldier. But in the seventeenth century he was accurately described by Montecuculi as a foot soldier, who used a horse only in order to arrive with more speed at the place where military service was to be performed.

1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, pages 294–295:

I have served as a Dragoon in my day; and a comrade of mine that I was once rather partial to, was, if I don't deceive myself, a brother of yours.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Steel and Iron”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 602:

If you want a receipt for that popular mystery, / Known to the world as a Heavy Dragoon, / Take all the remarkable people in history, / Rattle them off to a popular tune.

1881 April 23 (first performance), W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, librettist; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “Solo—Colonel, & Chorus of Dragoons (No. 3)”, in […] Patience or, Bunthorne’s Bride, New York, N.Y.: Hitchcock Publishing House […], published 1881, →OCLC, Act I, page 23:

His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill; an only brother at Montauk Point having sickened in the trenches before Santiago.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “A Dream Ends”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 43:

(by extension) Originally (historical), a soldier armed with a dragoon musket (sense 1.1) who fought both on foot and mounted on a horse; now, a cavalier or horse soldier from a regiment formerly armed with such muskets.

dragonder

soldier armed with a dragoon musket; cavalier or horse soldier from a regiment formerly armed with such muskets


dragoon

en-verb

dragoon (third-person singular simple present dragoons, present participle dragooning, simple past and past participle dragooned)

dragoons (present singular third-person)
dragooning (participle present)
dragooned (participle past)
dragooned (past)

He [Samuel Wilson] says, for example, that he is opposed to locking men up without trial, but he refrains from pledging himself to releasing the suspects. He says nothing about the necessity for dragooning the Irish for abolishing trial by jury.

1881 December 3, “The issues in Derry”, in The Pall Mall Gazette: An Evening Newspaper and Review, volume XXXIV, number 5233, London: […] Richard Lambert, […], →OCLC, page 1, column 1:

(military, historical) To cause (someone) to be attacked by dragoons.

usuttaa rakuunat

to cause (someone) to be attacked by dragoons


military intelligence
military intelligence

(military, intelligence, US) army military intelligence officer position at the division level and higher


(military, slang) gear-to, gear up; to gear up and get ready for battle, movement, or any type of action.


ramrod

(firearms) Device used with muzzleloaders to push the projectile up against the propellant.


malparry

(fencing) A parry that insufficiently removes the incoming blade from the target area.


RAF

(military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Air Force, the British RAF.

This paper discusses ongoing military reforms in the Russian Armed Forces (RAF) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and tries to determine[…]

Russia's military intervention in the former Soviet states of Ukraine and Crimea and the Russian Armed Forces (RAF) display of military might[…]

2019 August 9, Yi Edward Yang, Challenges to China's Economic Statecraft: A Global Perspective, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 26:

While the military was pulled into power conflicts between Gorbachev and his opponents inside the communist nomenclature in 1991, and between Yeltsin and the Duma in 1993, the Russian Armed Forces (RAF) did not develop an organizational[…]

2023 March 1, David Kuehn, Aurel Croissant, Routes to Reform: Civil-Military Relations and Democracy in the Third Wave, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 123:

Russian Armed Forces
w:Russian Armed Forces

(military, rare) Initialism of Russian Armed Forces. (To avoid confusing with the preceding sense, the Russian Armed Forces are more often abbreviated in other ways, like RuAF.)


order of the day

en-noun

order of the day (plural orders of the day)

(military) The general directive of a commander in chief or the specific instructions of a commanding officer.


FOB

FOB (countable and uncountable, plural FOBs)

FOBs (plural)
F.O.B. (alternative)
F. O. B. (alternative)
fob (alternative)

forward operating base
w:forward operating base

(military) Initialism of forward operating base.


smokeless

I run home, jumped in the bed,
Laid a forty-four smokeless under my head.

1971, Thomas G. Burton, Ambrose N. Manning, editors, Folksongs II, Research Advisory Council of East Tennessee State University, page 19:

(firearms) (Of a gun) that does not produce smoke when fired.


USS

“We are aware that there has been an unauthorized release of video footage from flight deck cameras onboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) of the F-35C Lightning II crash that occurred Jan. 24, in the South China Sea. There is an ongoing investigation into both the crash and the unauthorized release of the shipboard video footage,” Cmdr. Zach Harrell, spokesperson for Commander, Naval Air Forces, said in an email.

2022 February 7, Brad Lendon and Ivan Watson, “Newly leaked video shows F-35 crashing in flames on aircraft carrier”, in CNN:

(nautical, military) Initialism of United States Ship.


aide

Borrowed from French aide ("aid; assistant", as in aide-de-camp (“field assistant”)). More at aid.

gloss

"aid; assistant", as in <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">aide-de-camp</i> (“field assistant”)

(military) An officer who acts as assistant to a more senior one; an aide-de-camp.


perdu

Borrowed from Middle French perdu, originally after sentinelle perdue.

a perdue captain

c. 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Loyal Subiect”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act I, scene i:

(obsolete, military) Stationed in an exposed or hazardous position; hidden in ambush. Originally as sentinel perdu.


keyhole

en-verb

keyhole (third-person singular simple present keyholes, present participle keyholing, simple past and past participle keyholed)

keyholes (present singular third-person)
keyholing (participle present)
keyholed (participle past)
keyholed (past)

(firearms) To strike a target after wobbling in flight so that the long axis of the bullet does not follow the line of flight, typically due to insufficient spin resulting from the rifling in the barrel.


kipper

From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.

inh

Kipper, I discovered, was airman's slang for a fishing boat. The chief function of this particular station was the escorting of convoys and fishing fleets, and the section which had the latter duty to perform was known as the ‘Kipper Patrol’.

Kipper-kites, aircraft engaged on convoy escort duties over the North Sea and usually giving protection to the fishing-vessels.

1943, J. L. Hunt, A. G. Pringle, Service Slang, page 42:

(military, RAF World War II code name) A patrol to protect fishing boats in the Irish and North Seas against attack from the air.

As she was only crawling along I aimed my first ‘kipper’ just a fraction ahead of her bows.

I evaluate its firing power at eighteen torpedoes—I think kipper is a distressing piece of naval slang—in thirty minutes.

'Fancy running the risk of getting a kipper [a torpedo] to go with his grub.'


kitbag

kitbags (plural)
kit bag (alternative)
kit-bag (alternative)

Besides, whilst he had been in hospital, practically the whole of his equipment had disappeared from his kitbag – including Sylvia's two pair of sheets! – and he had no money with which to get more.

1925, Ford Madox Ford, No More Parades (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 371:

Others have abandoned their vehicles and have set off back towards the Russian border on foot, lugging their weapons and kitbags, videos suggest.

2022 March 4, Luke Harding, “Demoralised Russian soldiers tell of anger at being ‘duped’ into war”, in The Guardian:

(military, UK) A large cylindrical holdall.


touché

Borrowed from French touché, past participle of toucher (“to touch”). More at touch.


clodhopper

Compound of clod + hopper (agentive form of the verb hop). Perhaps affected by analogy with grasshopper. Attested in the sense of "peasant" since the seventeenth century; the extended sense of "boot" or "shoe" dates from the nineteenth century.

Smiling Jim Mead of New York tries on his GI clodhopper boots. He decided to return them "because we couldn't make any altitude with those aboard."

1943 August 16, “Senators go global: Five will fly to all fronts”, in LIFE Magazine:

(military slang) United States Navy ankle length work shoes, distinct from dress shoes or combat boots.


casualty

en-noun

casualty (countable and uncountable, plural casualties)

casualties (plural)
casuality (alternative obsolete)

From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

der

(military) A person in military service who becomes unavailable for duty, for any reason (notably death, injury, illness, capture, or desertion).


walkover

walkovers (plural)
walk-over (alternative)

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

(boxing) A match whose winner is declared because the other boxer does not appear in the ring within one minute of the official time.


warrant officer

en-noun

warrant officer (plural warrant officers)

(military) An officer holding rank by virtue of a warrant rather than a commission.


VPN

Coordinate term: HQVNCH

Coordinate term: RVNN

Vietnam People's Navy
w:Vietnam People's Navy

(military, nautical) Initialism of Vietnam People's Navy.


cold turkey

Various explanations; see Cold turkey § Etymology on Wikipedia.

(US military slang, World War I– World War II) Something exposed as a target due to surmountable defense.


watchword

From Middle English wacche word, wacchworde, morphologically as watch (“guard, sentinel, sentry”) + word.

com

a Watchword sufficient for him that is wiſe

(military, security) A prearranged reply to the challenge of a sentry or a guard; a password or signal by which friends can be known from enemies.

նշանաբան

a prearranged reply to the challenge of a sentry or a guard


tactic

tactics (plural)
tactick (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from New Latin tactica, from Ancient Greek τακτικός (taktikós, “fit for ordering”), from τάσσω (tássō, “to order, to arrange”).

der

(military) A maneuver used against an enemy.

taktikë

military manoeuvre used against an enemy


tactic

But time will teach the Russ, ev'n conquering War
Has handmaid arts: aye, aye, the Russ will woo
All sciences that speed Bellona's car,
All murder's tactic arts, and win them too […]

1831, Thomas Campbell, The Power of Russia:

(dated, military) Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.


counter

From Old French contre, Anglo-Norman cuntre, both from Latin contra.

[ˈkʰaʊ̯.ɾ̃ɚ]

Always know a counter to any hold you try against your opponent.

(martial arts) A proactive defensive hold or move in reaction to a hold or move by one's opponent.

vastaliike

martial arts: proactive defensive hold or move in reaction to one's opponent


counter

en-verb

counter (third-person singular simple present counters, present participle countering, simple past and past participle countered)

counters (present singular third-person)
countering (participle present)
countered (participle past)
countered (past)

[ˈkʰaʊ̯.ɾ̃ɚ]

His left hand countered provokingly.

1857, Charles Kingsley, “(please specify the page)”, in Two Years Ago, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:

(boxing) To return a blow while receiving one, as in boxing.

vastata

boxing: to return a blow while receiving one


freestyle

en-noun

freestyle (countable and uncountable, plural freestyles)

freestyles (plural)
free-style (alternative)

自由式

(sports) A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

(wrestling) A style of wrestling in which any non-injurious holds are permitted.


SAC

(military) Acronym of senior aircraftman.


SAC

(US, military) Acronym of Strategic Air Command.


TAC

TAC (countable and uncountable, plural TACs)

(US, military) Acronym of tactical air command.

Darrell S. Mudd, The Boys of Chattahoochee: Sons of the Greatest Generation
There were six tactical officers (TACs) in 95th Company, each in charge of a platoon of 40 officer candidates. TACs were not responsible for classroom or field instruction, as their title might suggest, […]

The TACs were commissioned officers; most were infantry officers and OCS graduates. They were lieutenants and called “sir.”

2017, John R. Oreskovich, SCUMBAG: The Education of an American Officer, page 40:

tactical officer
tactical officer#English

(US, military) Short for tactical officer.


souped-up

en-adj

souped-up (comparative more souped-up, superlative most souped-up)

more souped-up (comparative)
most souped-up (superlative)
souped (alternative)
souped up (alternative)
suped-up (alternative)

Uncertain; the fact that the earlier senses seem to be the horse racing cant and United States Navy slang ones suggests a derivation from soup (“liquid food item”), connoting a horse or a person being filled with a liquid.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a modified clipping of supe(r), with reference to an aeroplane or automobile engine being supercharged: see, for example, the 1925 quotation. This sense appears to post-date the horse-racing and navy slang senses.

If you have had any experience at all with the effect that it has upon these people when they are in situations of violence, you can understand that you cannot send these persons who are souped up on drugs to perform a delicate mission […]

1968, Melvin M. Belli, Trial and Tort Trends: Belli Seminar, page 253:

(US, naval slang) Intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.


bolster

bolsters (plural)
boulster (alternative)
bowster (alternative Scotland)
bouster (alternative Scotland)
boster (alternative Scotland)

From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, shell”), German Polster (“bolster, pillow, pad”), Swedish bolster (“soft mattress, bolster”), Icelandic bólstur (“pillow”).

cog

(military, historical) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.


Hindu

Hindus (plural)
Hindoo (alternative dated)

→ Hawaiian: Hinekū

Derived from Classical Persian هِنْدُو (hindū, “Indian, Hindu”), from Middle Persian hndwk' (Hindūg, “Indian”), from hnd (Hind, “India”), from Old Persian 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢 (hiⁿdu-, “India”), from Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu, “river, stream; Indus”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *síndʰuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš (“river”).

der

(North-West Frontier Province of British India, military, obsolete) A bunnia (merchant or trader) with a company of soldiers.


hitch

Probably from Middle English hicchen, hytchen, icchen (“to move; to move as with a jerk”), of obscure origin. Lacks cognates in other languages. Compare itch, hike.

She served two hitches in Vietnam.

U.S. TROOPS FACE LONGER ARMY HITCH; SOLDIERS BOUND FOR IRAQ, ... WILL BE RETAINED

2004, June 3, Stephen J. Hedges & Mike Dorning, Chicago Tribune; Orlando Sentinel; page pg. A.1

(military, slang) A period of time spent in the military.


engaged

/ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/

/ɛnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/


about-turn

about-turns (plural)
about turn (alternative)

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

From the imperative phrase used in the military.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.


fratricide

en-noun

fratricide (countable and uncountable, plural fratricides)

From Middle French fratricide or its etymon Latin frātricīdium.

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

From January on, Third Army also spent a good deal of energy trying to solve the problem of fratricide, the killing or injuring of one's own forces by what is ironically called 'friendly fire,'[…]

1999, Richard M. Swain, Lucky War: Third Army in Desert Storm, DIANE Publishing, page 180:

Such a press of arms invites many opportunities for unintentional fratricide.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Terminal Six (Legendary):

(military, by extension) The intentional or unintentional killing of a comrade in arms.

(military, by extension) The undesirable situation where the separate missiles from a MIRV interfere with each other as they explode.


ridge

ridges (plural)
rig (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English rigge, rygge, (also rig, ryg, rug), from Old English hryċġ (“back, spine, ridge, elevated surface”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrugi, from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz (“back”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krewk-, *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).
Cognate with Scots rig (“back, spine, ridge”), North Frisian reg (“back”), West Frisian rêch (“back”), Dutch rug (“back, ridge”), German Rücken (“back, ridge”), Swedish rygg (“back, spine, ridge”), Icelandic hryggur (“spine”). Cognate to Albanian kërrus (“to bend one's back”) and kurriz (“back”).

inh

the British Guards lie down behind a ridge to avoid the shot and shell from the opposite heights

1853-1855, Joachim Hayward Stocqueler, The Life of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington:

(fortifications) The highest portion of the glacis proceeding from the salient angle of the covered way.


pill

* From Middle English pille (also pillem), a borrowing from Middle Low German pille or Middle Dutch pille (whence Dutch pil), probably from Latin pila, pilula.
* (persuade or convince): Generalized from red pill.

(firearms, slang) A bullet (projectile).


pin down

en-verb

pin down (third-person singular simple present pins down, present participle pinning down, simple past and past participle pinned down)

pins down (present singular third-person)
pinning down (participle present)
pinned down (participle past)
pinned down (past)

(wrestling) To hold the opponent back-first so both his or her shoulders touch the mat or ground.


lucrative

en-adj

lucrative (comparative more lucrative, superlative most lucrative)

more lucrative (comparative)
most lucrative (superlative)

Borrowed from French lucratif, from Latin lucrativus (“profitable”), from lucratus, past participle of lucror (“I gain”), from lucrum (“gain”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“profit, gain”). Compare Spanish lucrar. By surface analysis, lucre + -ative.

der

Command and Control centers and headquarters are strategically important and lucrative targets.

2001, Eric R. Taylor, Lethal Mists, page 196:

Its troops can be widely dispersed as light infantry, using light anti-ship, anti-air and anti-land missiles and weapons to defenda given area or facility without presenting lucrative targets for air, missile, and artillery fire.

1999, Anthony H. Cordesman, Iran's Military Forces in Transition, page 208:

(military) Of a target: worth attacking; whose destruction is militarily useful.


lunette

Unadapted borrowing from French lunette, diminutive of lune (“moon”).

This Lunette, as we have seen, was confronted, and even in siege-form "approached", by a part of Canrobert's army [...].

1863, Alexander William Kinglake, The Invasion of the Crimea, volume VII, page 185:

In mid-December [...], the French succeeded in storming the half-ruined outwork of the St Laurent lunette and advancing to a position immediately beneath the walls with their breaching batteries.

2001, WG Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell, Austerlitz, Penguin, published 2011, page 21:

(fortifications) A field work consisting of two projecting faces forming a wedge each of which extends from one of two parallel flanks.


schoolgirl

en-verb

schoolgirl (third-person singular simple present schoolgirls, present participle schoolgirling, simple past and past participle schoolgirled)

schoolgirls (present singular third-person)
schoolgirling (participle present)
schoolgirled (participle past)
schoolgirled (past)

Victoria & Nidia beat Stratus & Kim in 3:45 when Victoria schoolgirled Kim.

2004, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, page 57:

She tags herself in only to get schoolgirled for the pin.

2017, James Dixon, Arnold Furious, Bob Dahlstrom, The Raw Files: 2001, page 121:

(transitive, wrestling, rare) To restrain in a schoolgirl pin.


windscreen

(military) A lightweight aerodynamic fairing mounted on the nose of an armor-piercing shell to reduce drag and increase range.


cruiser

(military, nautical) A class of fast warships of medium tonnage, having a long cruising range but less armour and firepower than a battleship.

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


flip

en-noun

flip (countable and uncountable, plural flips)

Alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). Cognate with Dutch flappen (“to flap”), German flappen (“to flap”).

inh

In the case of rifles flip is counteracted by the sighting of the weapons, and it is because of flip that the sights cannot be set so that the line of sight is exactly parallel to the axis of the bore.

1961, Sir Gerald Burrard, The gun. The cartridge, page 224:

A small, lightweight round, such as a .22 LR, generates very manageable recoil and muzzle flip (how much the nose of the gun flips up when you fire it).

2015, Tara Dixon Engel, The Handgun Guide for Women, page 33:

(firearms, uncountable) The tendency of a gun's barrel to jerk about at the moment of firing.


entrench

en-verb

entrench (third-person singular simple present entrenches, present participle entrenching, simple past and past participle entrenched)

entrenches (present singular third-person)
entrenching (participle present)
entrenched (participle past)
entrenched (past)
intrench (alternative archaic)

/ɪnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

/ɛnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

/ɛnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

From en- + trench. First attested in the 1550s.

The army entrenched its camp, or entrenched itself.

(literally) To cut in; to furrow; to make trenches in or upon.

(military) To surround or provide with a trench, especially for defense; to dig in.


residence

en-noun

residence (countable and uncountable, plural residences)

Inherited from Middle English residence, from Old French residence, from Medieval Latin residentia, from residēns, present participle of resideō, equivalent to reside + -ence.


detach

en-verb

detach (third-person singular simple present detaches, present participle detaching, simple past and past participle detached)

detaches (present singular third-person)
detaching (participle present)
detached (participle past)
detached (past)

From Old French destachier, from the same root as attach; compare French détacher and Portuguese and Spanish destacar.

to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment

(transitive, military) To separate for a special object or use.


sticker

From stick (“to pierce, to be fastened, to adhere”) + -er (“agent”).

affix

(military slang, World War I– World War II, if not earlier) A bayonet.


limbo

en-noun

limbo (countable and uncountable, plural limbos or limboes)

limbos (plural)
limboes (plural)
Limbo (alternative)

The noun is derived from Middle English limbo, lymbo (“place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven”), from Latin limbō, the ablative singular of limbus (“border, edge; hem; fringe, tassel”) (notably in expressions like in limbō (“in limbo”) and e limbō (“out of limbo”)); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang limply or loosely”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”). Doublet of limp.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(countable, military, nautical, weaponry) A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.


cauldron

cauldrons (plural)
caldron (alternative archaic)
caudron (alternative obsolete)
cawdron (alternative obsolete)
caadron (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English caudroun, borrowed from Old Northern French caudron, ultimately from Late Latin caldāria (“cooking-pot”), from Latin caldus (“hot”). Spelling later Latinized by having an l inserted. See chowder, caldera.
The military sense is a semantic loan from German Kessel; compare English kettling.

Coordinate term: kettle

After having defended the constantly shrinking perimeter of their position for over two weeks, the encircled German units in the Cherkassy “cauldron” were ordered to break out.

1966, George H. Stein, The Waffen SS: Hitler’s Elite Guard at War, 1939–1945, →ISBN, page 217:

The cauldron had been formed, and some 2,000 Soviets had been encircled in it; the division estimated this quite a success.

2012, Hans Wijers, Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army, →ISBN, page 153:

This could have been avoided had the Ukrainian Army either evacuated the troops in the southern cauldron once it became clear that their position was untenable or reinforced them substantially in order to reopen supply lines.

2016, Paul Robinson, “Explaining the Ukrainian Army’s defeat in Donbass in 2014”, in J. L. Black, Michael Johns, editors, The Return of the Cold War: Ukraine, the West and Russia, →ISBN, page 120:


rustication

en-noun

rustication (countable and uncountable, plural rustications)

(UK, military) The process of posting a person or relocating a unit from London (or a command HQ) to elsewhere in the country.


hoochie

This TP should be delivered as the hoochie shelter is constructed. Demonstrate and explain each step.

2019, Royal Canadian Army Cadets, Red Star Instructional Guide, page 60:

(military slang) Alternative form of hutchie (“type of shelter”)


Archie

Archie (countable and uncountable, plural Archies)

But then, dodging airbursts of Archie on the Western Front hadn't exactly been a joyride either.

2012, Pat Kelleher, The Alleyman, →ISBN:

He was seen by an aeroplane, our Archie gunner and a whole division to crash in their lines just opposite our trenches, much jubilation and more congratulations.

2013, Tyrrel M. Hawker, Hawker VC- The First RFC Ace: The Life of Major Lanoe Hawker VC DSO: 1890-1916., →ISBN:

On a cloudy day one can hop in and out of the clouds, greatly to the annoyance of some Archie commander who, just when he has got range and direction and is about to let fly, finds that his bird has disappeared into a cloud. He fills thatcloud with HE but his quarry emerges from another nearby with a gesture of derision which the gunners below may imagine, though cannot see. On a sunny day, Archie is up early, for he knows that aircraft will be silhouetted against a blue sky. Then the experienced pilot hops in and out of the sun, there being no clouds, while the Archie commander rubs his smarting eyes and uses strong words.

2014, Martin Bowman, Lost Wings of WWI: Downed Airmen on the Western Front 1914-1918, →ISBN:

(military slang, World War I, uncountable) Anti-aircraft artillery.

An inquisitive aeroplane, which had been hovering over the scene, was picked off as by an Archie and made a forced landing, man and machine buried in filth.

1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed:

Quickly our five machines dodged the Archies as we crossed.

2016, Lieut.-Col. Harold Evans Hartney, Up And At ‘Em, →ISBN:

(military slang, World War I, countable) A piece of anti-aircraft ordnance.


doggy

doggy (countable and uncountable, plural doggies)

The Torpedo Officer and I were on the lower bridge and we each had a doggy, a young midshipman […]

2008, Iain Ballantyne, HMS Rodney: The Famous Ships of the Royal Navy Series:

(countable, military, UK, informal) A junior temporarily assigned to do minor duties for a senior; a gofer.


wrestler

From Middle English wrastlere, equivalent to wrestle + -er.

it isn't easy to avoid all the wrestler's holds.

2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 231c:


defilement

defilement (countable and uncountable, plural defilements)

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

(military) The protection of the interior walls of a fortification from enfilading fire, as by covering them, or by a high parapet on the exposed side.


defile

en-verb

defile (third-person singular simple present defiles, present participle defiling, simple past and past participle defiled)

defiles (present singular third-person)
defiling (participle present)
defiled (participle past)
defiled (past)

PIE word
 *dwís
The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to march; to parade”), from dé- (prefix indicating actions are done more strongly or vigorously) + one or both of the following:
* filer (“to thread through (a crowd)”) (from Late Latin filāre, from Latin fīlum (“fibre, filament, string, thread”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-).
* file (“line of objects placed one after the other, file”), from filer (see above), or fil (“thread, yarn; wire”), from Old French fil, from Latin fīlum (see above).
The noun is borrowed from French défilé (“parade, procession”), a noun use of the past participle of défiler (verb); see above.

der

Without delay, he briſkly attacked them, as they were defiling from a lane and forming themſelves.

1754, David Hume, “[Charles I.] Chapter II.”, in The History of Great Britain, under the House of Stuart, 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 332:

Several bodies of troops defiled towards the frontiers under various pretences; and the whole being ſuddenly aſſembled, formed an army with which the duke of Guiſe [Francis, Duke of Guise] made an unexpected march towards Calais.

1762, David Hume, “[John.] Chapter VII.”, in The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Accession of Henry VII, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 393:

As the multitude defiled into the square, the inquisitors took their place on the seats prepared for their reception.

1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Protestantism in Spain”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book II, page 428:

They [pigs] defiled down a gully to the water and bunched and jerked their noses at it and came back.

1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree (Vintage Contemporaries), New York, N.Y.: Vintage International, Vintage Books, published May 1992, →ISBN, page 138:

(intransitive, archaic) To march in a single file or line; to file.

дефилирам

to march in a single file or line — see also file

(transitive, obsolete) To march across (a place) in files or lines.


defile

defiles (plural)
defilé (alternative)
defilee (alternative)
défilé (alternative)

VVe had one dangerous Place to paſs, vvhich our Guide told us, if there vvere any more VVolves in the Country, vve ſhould find them there; and this vvas in a ſmall Plain, ſurrounded vvith VVoods on every Side, and a long narrovv Defile or Lane, vvhich vve vvere to paſs to get through the VVood, and then vve ſhould come to the Village vvhere vve vvere to lodge.

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 353:

Conſtantine had taken poſt in a defile about half a mile in breadth, between a ſteep hill and a deep moraſs, and in that ſituation he ſteadily expected and repulſed the firſt attack of the enemy.

1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter XIV, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 437:

[…] I roam / By Thrasimene's lake, in the defiles / Fatal to Roman rashness, more at home; […]

1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LXII, page 34:

[T]hese granite hills, thousands of feet high, were impracticable for heavy troops: the passes through them being formidable defiles, very costly to assault or cover.

1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book III: A Railway Diversion. Chapter XXVIII.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 168:

All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles.

1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:

The next morning the enemy were on the march before him, seized the defiles, blocked the fords of the rivers, destroyed the bridges, and sent out cavalry to patrol the open ground, so as to oppose the Athenians at every step as they retreated.

1960, Plutarch, “Nicias [c. 470–413 b.c.]”, in Ian Scott-Kilvert, transl., The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives […] (Penguin Classics; L102), London: Penguin Books, published 1967, →OCLC, page 239:

On the final stages of the run from Inverness Class 5 4-6-0 No. 45066 winds its train through narrow rock defiles alongside Loch Carron at the approach to Kyle of Lochalsh.

1962 January, “Motive Power Transition on the Kyle Line”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, photograph caption, page 17:

"For the first time in 125 years a powerful enemy was now established across the narrow waters of the English Channel. ... Many people must have been bewildered by the innumerable activities all around them. They could understand the necessity for wiring and mining the beaches, the anti-tank obstacles at the defiles, the concrete pillboxes at the cross-roads, the intrusions into their houses to fill an attic with sandbags, on to their golf-courses or most fertile fields and gardens to burrow out some wide anti-tank ditch." So wrote Winston Churchill in Their Finest Hour, published in 1949.

2023 November 15, Dr Joseph Brennan, “A crucial part of our nation's defences”, in RAIL, number 996, page 60:

A narrow passage or way (originally (military), one which soldiers could only march through in a single file or line), especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains.

дефиле

narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains

(military)
An act of marching in files or lines.

A single file of soldiers; (by extension) any single file.

jono

single file of soldiers; any single file


defile

The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to arrange soldiers or fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire; to unthread”) (compare Middle French desfilher (“to unthread”)), from dé- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + enfiler (“to rake with gunfire, enfilade; to string on to a thread; to thread (a needle)”) (from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into; on, on to’) + filer (verb) or file (noun); see etymology 2).
The noun is derived from the verb.

bor

(transitive, military, rare) Synonym of defilade (“to fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire”)


defile

(military, rare) An act of defilading a fortress or other place, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.


cluster

→ Catalan: clúster

→ French: cluster

→ German: Cluster

→ Italian: cluster

→ Japanese: クラスター (kurasutā)

→ Portuguese: cluster

→ Russian: кла́стер (kláster)

→ Spanish: clúster, cluster

→ Swedish: kluster

High Performance Computing Center, Stuttgart

The noun is derived from Middle English cluster (“bunch, cluster, spray; compact body or mass, ball”) [and other forms], from Old English cluster, clyster (“cluster, bunch, branch”), from Proto-Germanic *klas-, *klus- (“to clump, lump together”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up; to clench; to amass”)) + *-þrą (suffix forming nouns denoting an instrument or tool). The English word is probably a doublet of clot.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Dutch klister (“cluster”) (dialectal)
* Icelandic klasi (“cluster; bunch of grapes”)
* Low German Kluuster (“cluster”)
* Swedish kluster (“cluster”)

nb...

closter, clostre, clouster, clowster, clustre, clustyr

բույլ

A bunch or group of several discrete items that are close to each other.

A set of bombs or mines released as part of the same blast.

klynge

(US) In full oak leaf cluster: a small bronze or silver device shaped like a twig of oak leaves and acorns which is worn on a ribbon to indicate that the wearer has been conferred the same award or decoration before; an oakleaf.


fraise

en-verb

fraise (third-person singular simple present fraises, present participle fraising, simple past and past participle fraised)

fraises (present singular third-person)
fraising (participle present)
fraised (participle past)
fraised (past)

Borrowed from French fraise (“ruff”), fraiser; compare French friser (“curl”), perhaps from Provençal frezar; ultimately from Germanic.

to fraise a battaion is to line or cover it every way with bayonets

1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:

(military) To protect, as a line of troops, against an onset of cavalry, by opposing bayonets raised obliquely forward.


bump

bump (third-person singular simple present bumps, present participle bumping, simple past and past participle bumped)

bumps (present singular third-person)
bumping (participle present)
bumped (participle past)
bumped (past)

From Early Modern English bump (“a shock, blow from a collision”), probably of North Germanic origin; compare Danish bump (“a thump”), Danish bumpe (“to thump”), Old Danish bumpe (“to strike with a clenched fist”), all probably of imitative origin.
Apparently related to Middle English bumben, bummen (“to make a hollow noise”), Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”), German Low German bumsen (“to bump, push”), German bummen (“to hum, buzz”), Icelandic bumba (“drum”). More at bum, bumble. Compare also bomb.

onom

imitative

cog

(criminal slang and US military slang, circa 1920–1950) To encounter and stop, to catch.


submit

en-verb

submit (third-person singular simple present submits, present participle submitting, simple past and past participle submitted)

submits (present singular third-person)
submitting (participle present)
submitted (participle past)
submitted (past)

From Middle English submitten, borrowed from Latin submittere, infinitive of submittō (“place under, yield”), from sub (“under, from below, up”) + mitto (“to send”). Compare upsend.

[Ronda] Rousey, a former U.S. Olympian in Judo, caps off a perfect year in which she submitted Liz Carmouche in the first-ever UFC female fight and coached opposite [Miesha] Tate in "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series.

2013 December 28, Brett Okamoto, “Ronda Rousey wins with arm bar”, in ESPN, retrieved 2014-01-06:

It was also the first time Goldberg has been submitted, enhancing Reigns even more than he already has been over the last two years.

2022 February 19, Erik Beaston, “WWE Elimination Chamber 2022 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights”, in Bleacher Report, retrieved 2022-02-22:

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(transitive, mixed martial arts, professional wrestling) To win a fight against (an opponent) by submission.


tab

First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.

(British Army, military slang) A fast march or run with full kit.


Asiatic

en-adj

Asiatic (comparative more Asiatic, superlative most Asiatic)

more Asiatic (comparative)
most Asiatic (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Latin āsiāticus; equivalent to Asia + -atic.

A soldier might grab his rifle and batter his way to the heart of some Jap position. Back home they gave him all sorts of medals but his companions dismissed him as the poor bastard who finally went Asiatic.

1951, James Albert Michener, The Voice of Asia, page 6:

“[…] This ship has been in the forward area since March ’42. It’s been through a lot of action. The men are all Asiatic. They probably think a fantail watch in Pearl Harbor is foolishness. […]”

1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, page 82:

The note was good-humored and Willie swiftly decided not to take offense. “No thanks. I don’t want any medals for extraordinary heroism.” [¶] “Old man is really Asiatic, sir, ain’t he?” said Meatball, stepping into his trousers.

1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, page 305:

Now how the hell, we asked ourselves, does a guy this old get from a navy ammo dump to command of a battleship? Not just any battleship but the flagship of the Battle Force! Had the brass hats at the Bureau of Navigation gone Asiatic?

1982, Theodore C. Mason, Battleship Sailor, page 129:

This was a place that if you stayed there for any length of time, you went “Asiatic”. That was the expression for someone who went cuckoo. We had a long brutally boring patrol duty there, until we left for the island of Tarawa […]

2004, Sol Weisbrot, Looking Back On My Life, page 50:

Enlisted men sometimes went Asiatic, or “rock happy,” after long service in the islands. This was common knowledge on the scuttlebutt network.

2006, Robert Hood, Mama's Boy, page 155:

(military, slang) Eccentric or crazy as a result of spending a long time in the Far East.


flank

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.

cog

(military) The extreme left or right edge of a military formation, army etc.

(military) The sides of a bastion perpendicular to the wall from which the bastion projects.


kick the tires and light the fires

en-verb

kick<> the tires and light<,,lit> the fires

kick the tires and light the fires (third-person singular simple present kicks the tires and lights the fires, present participle kicking the tires and lighting the fires, simple past and past participle kicked the tires and lit the fires)

kicks the tires and lights the fires (present singular third-person)
kicked the tires and lit the fires (participle past)
kicked the tires and lit the fires (past)

From kick the tires, referring to a preflight check of the landing gear, and light the fires, referring to the ignition of the afterburners, a part of the engine which burns extra fuel for a speed boost.

His face appears in the open window of the pilot's seat on the flight deck. He is ready. I am ready. It's time to kick the tires and light the fires.

1998, Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate Looks at Fifty (2000 Random House edition), p. 108 (Google preview)

(US, military slang, used by fighter pilots) To take off.


chaff

en-noun

chaff (usually uncountable, plural chaffs)

From Middle English chaf, from Old English ċeaf, from Proto-West Germanic *kaf. Cognate with Scots caff, Saterland Frisian Sääf, West Frisian tsjêf, Dutch kaf, German Low German Kaff, regional German Kaff.

(military) Loose material, e.g. small strips of aluminum foil dropped from aircraft, intended to interfere with radar detection.

silppu

loose material dropped from aircraft to interfere with radar


brig

en-verb

brig (third-person singular simple present brigs, present participle brigging, simple past and past participle brigged)

brigs (present singular third-person)
brigging (participle present)
brigged (participle past)
brigged (past)

Abbreviated from brigantine, from Italian brigantino; in sense “jail”, from the use of such ships as prisons.

(US, military slang, dated) To merely pretend to be occupied, to lollygag.

(US, military slang, dated) To jail, to confine into the guardhouse.


illuminate

illuminate (third-person singular simple present illuminates, present participle illuminating, simple past and past participle illuminated)

illuminates (present singular third-person)
illuminating (participle present)
illuminated (participle past)
illuminated (past)

From Middle English illuminaten, borrowed from Latin illūminātus, perfect passive participle of illūminō (“lighten, light up, show off”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from in + lūminō (“light up”), from lūmen (“light”). Cognate with Old English lȳman (“to glow, shine”). More at leam.

(transitive, military) To direct a radar beam toward.


tell off

tell off (third-person singular simple present tells off, present participle telling off, simple past and past participle told off)

tells off (present singular third-person)
telling off (participle present)
told off (participle past)
told off (past)

(to count): From the military order: "number" - when starting with the first soldier, each would number himself out loud, counting in sequence file by file and rank by rank.

To equalize a battalion is to tell off a certain number of companies, usually eight, in such a manner that the several component parts shall consist of the same number of men.

1885, Edward Farrow, A Dictionary of Military Terms:

(transitive, military) To divide and practise a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises.


OD

en-noun

OD (countable and uncountable, plural ODs)

Coordinate term: FDE

“He went to’ds de back, ma’am.” The negro opened the door and slid his legs, clad in army O.D. and a pair of linoleum putties, to the ground. “‘I’ll go git ’im.”’

1964 [1929], William Faulkner, Sartoris (The Collected Works of William Faulkner), London: Chatto & Windus, page 22:

(especially military) Initialism of olive drab (“color of clothing, uniforms, tools, and equipment”).


blowback

blowback (countable and uncountable, plural blowbacks)

blowbacks (plural)
blow-back (alternative)

The Israeli UZI submachine gun, one the most easily recognized examples of a blowback firearm, is well known for its simplicity, ease of manufacture, low maintenance, and utter reliability.

2012, Robert E. Walker, Cartridges and Firearm Identification, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 24:

(firearms) A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and cock the hammer.


pike

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning.
The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk. It is a doublet of pique.
The diving or gymnastics position is probably from tapered appearance of the body when the position is executed.
The carnivorous freshwater fish is probably derived from the “sharp point, spike” senses, due to the fish’s pointed jaws.
The verb sense “to quit or back out of a promise” may be from the sense of taking up pilgrim's staff or pike and leaving on a pilgrimage; and compare Middle English pī̆ken (“to go, remove oneself”) and Old Danish pikke af (“to go away”).

cog

An arme pike which a weake man maye use or handle very reddily with such force as a man will not thincke, and the same pike will also become a very good shotte at all tymes.

c. 1558–1602, Ralph Rabbards, “[Letters on Scientific Subjects.] Ralph Rabbards to Queen Elizabeth. [MS. Lansd. No. 121. Art. 14.] A Coppie of Notes Delivered to Her Majestie by Raphe Rabbards.”, in James Orchard Halliwell, editor, Ludus Conventriæ. A Collection of Mysteries, formerly Represented at Coventry on the Feast of Corpus Christi, London: Printed for the Shakespeare Society, published 1841, →OCLC, page 11:

Wounded and overthrown, the Britons continued their resistance, clung round the legs of the Norman steeds, and cumbered their advance; while their brethren, thrusting with pikes, proved every joint and crevice of the plate and mail, or grappling with the men-at-arms, strove to pull them from their horses by main force, or beat them down with their bills and Welch hooks.

1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume I (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 71:

(military, historical) A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.


Aegis class cruiser

en-noun

Aegis class cruiser (plural Aegis class cruisers)

(military) A cruiser equipped with sophisticated defenses against missile and air attack.


mareschal

A variant of marshal remodelled on its etymon, Old French mareschal.

(military) A man of the highest military rank in certain countries.


prang

prang (countable and uncountable, plural prangs)

Originally World War II Royal Air Force slang; probably imitative.

onomatopoeic

imitative


yo-yo

→ Italian: yo-yo

Genericized trademark. Most likely from Ilocano yóyo, or another Philippine cognate.

(aviation, military) A dogfighting maneuver involving the attacker temporarily exchanging altitude for airspeed, or vice versa, in order to rapidly catch up with the defender or to prevent an overshoot.


fire brigade

/ˈfaɪə(ɹ)bɹɪˌɡeɪd/

General Westmoreland used some incoming troops as a fire brigade to squelch major threats and keep the Communists off balance.

1976, The Encyclopedia Americana, volume 28, page 112:

(military, US) A trained unit that can be rapidly deployed to deal with any difficult situation.


API

(weaponry) Initialism of advanced primer ignition.

armor-piercing incendiary
armor-piercing incendiary#English

(weaponry) Initialism of armor-piercing incendiary.


predict

en-verb

predict (third-person singular simple present predicts, present participle predicting, simple past and past participle predicted)

predicts (present singular third-person)
predicting (participle present)
predicted (participle past)
predicted (past)
prædict (alternative)

Early 17th century, from Latin praedīcō (“to mention beforehand”) (perfect passive participle praedictus), from prae- (“before”) + dīcō (“to say”). Equivalent to Germanic forespeak, foretell, and foresay.

تَنَبَّأَ

to state, or make something known in advance

They're predicting us now; looks like a barrage.

1943, L. Cheshire, Bomber Pilot, iii. 57:

(transitive, military, rare) To direct a ranged weapon against a target by means of a predictor.


accouterment

accouterments (plural)
accoutrement (alternative Commonwealth)

From Middle French accoustrement, from accoustrer, from Old French acostrer (“arrange, sew up”), first attested in the 1540s.

Thus One / Jovial his Mate bespoke; O Friend, observe, / How gay with all th'Accoutrements of War / The Britons come, with Gold well fraught they come

Three thousand six hundred of the best fighting men, with complete accoutrement; with cannoneers even, and cannon!

1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Give us Arms”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume I (The Bastille), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book V (The Third Estate), page 182:

He [Manolo] was supposed to have left Spain while he was doing his military service, that is to say he was in the cavalry and he went across the border, and sold his horse and his accoutrement, and so had enough money to come to Paris and be a sculptor.

1933, Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas:

(military, chiefly in the plural) A soldier's equipment, other than weapons and uniform.


ICBM

Just sing out a Te Deum / When you see that ICBM / And the party will be come-as-you-are

1959, “We Will All Go Together When We Go”, in Tom Lehrer (music), An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, performed by Tom Lehrer:

Iraq could test a North Korean-type ICBM that could deliver a several-hundred-kilogram payload to the United States in the last half of the next decade [the decade beginning with calendar year 2000] depending on the level of foreign assistance.

2002, Alexander T. Lennon, Contemporary Nuclear Debates: Missile Defense, Arms Control, and Arms Races in the Twenty-first Century, MIT Press, →ISBN:

(weaponry) Initialism of intercontinental ballistic missile.

МКБР

abbreviation of intercontinental ballistic missile


glide

From Middle English gliden, from Old English glīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *glīdan, from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleydʰ-.
Cognate with West Frisian glide, glydzje, Low German glieden, Dutch glijden, German gleiten, Norwegian Nynorsk gli, Danish glide, Swedish glida, Finnish liitää.

(fencing) An attack or preparatory movement made by sliding down the opponent’s blade, keeping it in constant contact.


kickback

en-noun

kickback (countable and uncountable, plural kickbacks)

kickbacks (plural)
kick-back (alternative)
kick back (alternative)

(uncountable, firearms, machinery) Recoil; a sudden backward motion, usually in the direction of the operator.


peekaboo

peekaboo boxing

a peekaboo guard

(boxing) Being or using a style of boxing with the hands kept close to the face to defend it.


engagement

engagement (countable and uncountable, plural engagements)

After engagement it quickly became clear which of the fencers was going to prevail.

(fencing, countable) The point at which the fencers are close enough to join blades, or to make an effective attack during an encounter.


ROTC

A trumpeteer from Ft. Polk sounded colors and an ROTC color guard raised the US flag to the top of a silver staff.

1982, All Volunteer, volume 35, number 11, page 18:

Reserve Officers' Training Corps
w:Reserve Officers' Training Corps

(US, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, military) Initialism of Reserve Officers' Training Corps.


barrage

Unadapted borrowing from French barrage (“barrage, barrier”) c. 1859. Compare barrier.

ubor

The 75s of V Corps fired a standard rolling barrage, while the larger 155 mm and 8-inch pieces fired standing barrages 500 meters beyond the barrage line. For the rolling barrage, one battery in each battalion fired low, bursting shrapnel instead of the standard high explosive.

2014, Edward G. Lengel, A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 350:

(military) A heavy curtain of artillery fire directed in front of one's own troops to screen and protect them.

(fencing) A "next hit wins" contest to determine the winner of a bout in case of a tie.


forty-four

I went back home and I went to bed;
With a forty-four revolver under my head.

1936 July 27, The Journal of American Folklore, volume 40, number 193, page 221:

(firearms) (Of a gun) firing a 0.44 inch calibre bullet.


forty-eight

They had their ten-day leaves and regular forty-eights from behind the nets of Bantry Bay and Scapa Flow […]

1919, Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy:

(US, military) A period of 48 hours' leave, i.e. two days.


controller

/kənˈtɹəʊlə/

From Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-Norman contreroulour and Middle French contreroleur (French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrārotulātor, from *contrārotulāre (from which control). By surface analysis, control + -er.

(espionage) The person who supervises and handles communication with an agent in the field.


IED

en-noun

IED (countable and uncountable, plural IEDs)

She'd been an Army noncombatant, but roadside IEDs didn't distinguish between armed troops and support services.

2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 61:

improvised explosive device
improvised explosive device#English

(weaponry) Initialism of improvised explosive device.

СВП

initialism of improvised explosive device — see also improvised explosive device


AFB

AFB (countable and uncountable, plural AFBs)

Almost two and a half years of repairs paid off in January, when the Frankenjet flew for the first time, from Hill AFB to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

2025 April 10, Brad Lendon, “‘Frankenjet’ stealth fighter made from two wrecked warplanes joins US Air Force fleet”, in CNN:

(military, aviation) Initialism of air force base.


ANA

(military) Initialism of Afghan National Army.


deadline

en-verb

deadline (third-person singular simple present deadlines, present participle deadlining, simple past and past participle deadlined)

deadlines (present singular third-person)
deadlining (participle present)
deadlined (participle past)
deadlined (past)

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling. Slightly later American usage refers to a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross. There is only indirect evidence that the sense of "due date" may be connected with this use of the term in prison camps during the American Civil War, when it referred to a physical line or boundary beyond which prisoners were shot. In 1904, in a report from the US Department of Commerce and Labor, the term is used for "minimum work goals" (and in contrast to bonus line): for example, as a typographer the line could be 18,000 ems per day; should one not cross this line, then that could have negative consequences. In 1917, the term is attested as a printing term for a guideline on the bed of a printing press beyond which text will not print. Three years later, the term is found in print in the sense of "time limit" in the closely connected publishing industry, indicating the time after which material would not make it into a newspaper or periodical.

(military) To render an item non-mission-capable; to ground an aircraft, etc.


armament

en-noun

armament (countable and uncountable, plural armaments)

From Latin armāmentum, from armō (“I arm”).

(military, naval) All the cannon and small arms collectively, with their equipments, belonging to a ship or a fortification.


turret

From Middle English touret, from Old French torete (French tourette), diminutive of tour (“tower”), from Latin turris. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and tower. See tower.

оръдейна кула

a revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates

(historical, military) A siege tower; a movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.

armoured fighting vehicle
armoured fighting vehicle

(military) An armoured, rotating gun installation on a fort, ship, aircraft, or armoured fighting vehicle.


cat's-paw

cat's-paw (plural cat's-paws or cats'-paws)

cat's-paws (plural)
cats'-paws (plural)
cat's paw (alternative)
catspaw (alternative)

From cat + paw. In most senses, due to a resemblance of shape. In its senses as a pawn to another's interests or analysis, variant of earlier cat's-foot, derived from European tales of a monkey (attested as early as 1456 but sometimes misattributed to the 16th-century monkey of Pope Julius II) who used a sleeping puppy or cat's foot to rake hot chestnuts out of a fire, taken as a metaphor for rulers' ill use of their subjects. Now usually understood in light of Jean de La Fontaine's 1679 fable of the "The Monkey and the Cat" (sometimes misattributed to Aesop), in which the monkey fools the cat into removing the chestnuts through flattery and promises of shared reward. The cat removes the chestnuts one by one, burning his paw while the monkey eats each in turn. A maid then enters and chases them both away. La Fontaine's moral concludes that princes should not endure real losses for mere flattery from their king.

dupe

one unwittingly used for another's purposes

an unrelated metaphor from a separate story

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

(historical weaponry, torture) A metal set of claws worn over the hand or wielded in the hand used to remove skin and flesh.


expedition

expedition (countable and uncountable, plural expeditions)

From Middle French expédition, and its source, Latin expeditio.

(military) An important or long journey, for example a march or a voyage

արշավ

An important enterprise, implying a change of place


bear hug

(wrestling) A hold with the arms around the opponent.


receiver

From Anglo-Norman receverre, receivour et al., later also reformed as receive + -er. Compare recevor, rescaivour.

curator

person appointed to settle financial affairs

прыёмнік

electronic device that receives and converts signal

(firearms) The part of a firearm containing the action.


DA

(military, of a revolver) Initialism of double action.


Charlie Foxtrot

Charlie Foxtrot (plural Charlie Foxtrots)

That commission's project has become a huge Charlie Foxtrot; who's in charge over there?

Charlie Foxtrot! Tower One approach has active Triple-A!

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Hocus (Debra Wilson Skelton), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: The Covenant:

(military) Clusterfuck, abbreviated to "CF" and expressed in the NATO phonetic alphabet.


returns

(military) The return of the soldiers fit for duty.


hassle

en-verb

hassle (third-person singular simple present hassles, present participle hassling, simple past and past participle hassled)

hassles (present singular third-person)
hassling (participle present)
hassled (participle past)
hassled (past)

Unknown. Probably from US Southern dialectal hassle (“to pant, breathe noisily”), possibly from haste + -le (frequentative suffix).

Likewise, “hassling”—mock dogfighting—was strictly forbidden, and so naturally young fighter jocks could hardly wait to go up in, say, a pair of F–100s and start the duel by making a pass at each other at 800 miles an hour, […]

If you were caught 'hassling,' as we called dogfighting, your career could end. The edict against dogfighting divided our squadron into three factions.

(military, aviation, slang) To engage in a mock dogfight.


budget

→ Cantonese: budget

desctree

→ French: budget
→ Armenian: բյուջե (byuǰe), պյուտճե (pyutče)
→ German: Budget
→ Ottoman Turkish: بودجه (büdce)
Turkish: bütçe
→ Azerbaijani: büdcə
→ Persian: بودجه (budje)
→ Russian: бюдже́т (bjudžét)

→ Italian: budget

→ Polish: budżet

→ Swahili: bajeti

Recorded since 1432 as Middle English bogett, bouget, bowgette (“leather pouch”), borrowed from Old French bougette, the diminutive of bouge (“leather bag, wallet”) (also the root of bulge), itself from Late Latin bulga (“leather bag, bellow”), which derives from Gaulish *bolgā (compare Old Irish bolg (“bag”), Breton bolc’h (“flax pod”)), a common root with the Germanic family (compare Dutch balg (“bellows”)), from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-. More at belly.

baajeta

the amount of money or resources earmarked for a particular institution, activity or time-frame

(obsolete, military) A socket in which the end of a cavalry carbine rests.


CID

(US, military, law enforcement, initialism) U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command

(US, military, law enforcement, initialism) Former name of NCIS. (Naval Criminal Investigation Division)


DILLIGAFF

give a flying fuck
give a flying fuck#English

(US, military slang) Acronym of does it look like I give a flying fuck?.


Fanny Adams

sweet Fanny Adams (alternative)
sweet FA (alternative)
SFA (alternative)

From Fanny Adams (1859–1867), a young girl brutally murdered and dismembered. Tins of mutton introduced in the British navy after her death were not liked by the sailors and were humorously said to be her butchered remains. Fanny Adams then came to mean any worthless thing, and, eventually, nothing at all ("sweet F A").
Coincidentally, the initials "FA" also fit the vulgar term fuck all, also meaning "nothing at all", leading to later perception of "Fanny Adams", or "FA", being a euphemism for the latter.

The Engineer Lieutenant pushed his head inside his neighbour's cabin: “Come along—come along! You'll be late for dinner. Fresh grub to-night: no more ‘Russian Kromeskis’ and ‘Fanny Adams’!”

1916, Bartimeus [pseudonym; Sir Lewis Ritchie], Naval Occasions, and Some Traits of the Sailor-man, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons:

(UK, naval slang, obsolete, derogatory) Tinned meat.


NCO

There was for some reason a shortage not only of regular private soldiers but of officers and NCOs.

1989, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts, August 1914, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 109:

For Sgt Kudrya, an NCO who has found himself commanding a company because of a lack of officers, this low-level war means a constant struggle with the elements, paper work (he is under constant pressure from above to account for each litre of petrol and round of ammunition), and the erosion of discipline born of boredom.

2017 January 14, Roland Oliphant, “Special report: Loose cannons at the frontline of Ukraine's forgotten war”, in The Telegraph:

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer#English

(military) Initialism of non-commissioned officer.


set up

en-verb

set up (third-person singular simple present sets up, present participle setting up, simple past and past participle set up)

sets up (present singular third-person)
setting up (participle present)
set up (participle past)
set up (past)

When you make an opening you merely cause an opponent to uncover a target somewhere on his person. But when you set up an opponent, you knock him off balance with one punch so that he should be an open target for a following punch. Unless he's knocked off balance, he's not set up.

1950, Jack Dempsey, chapter 23, in Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense:

Writer Danny Wamboldt of Ring magazine said, "Only Willie knew how to set up his opponents masterfully and then move in." Wamboldt, a former New England bantamweight champion and current national president of the Veteran Boxers Association, said that one of Pep's opponents said of his dazzling speed: "It was the first time he had been surrounded by one man."

1997 September 24, Joe Duffy, “TRIBUTES TO THE MAN AND THE BOXER”, in Hartford Courant:

(boxing) To deceive an opponent and capitalize on their reactions with a certain technique or maneuver.


setup

The jab is most commonly used as a setup for other strikes.

(boxing) A move or set of moves which are meant to draw out a reaction which leaves an exploitable opening in defense.


displacement

From French déplacement. Morphologically displace + -ment.

водоизместимост

the quantity of anything, as water, displaced by a floating body, as by a ship

there is no replacement for displacement

(fencing) Moving the target to avoid an attack; dodging.


flick

→ Afrikaans: fliek

From Middle English flykke (“light blow or stroke”). Later uses apparently interpreted as a back-formation from flicker.
The use of flick to mean a film or movie derives from the fact that early films had a low frame rate, thus causing the film to "flick" rapidly when projected onto a screen.

inh

(fencing) A cut that lands with the point, often involving a whip of the foible of the blade to strike at a concealed target.

flikki

a cut that lands with the point (fencing)


specialist

Borrowed from French spécialiste, equivalent to special + -ist.

(US, military) Any of several non-commissioned ranks corresponding to that of corporal.


lancer

(military) A cavalry soldier armed with a lance weapon.


UXB

(military) Initialism of unexploded bomb.


field day

Some postulate the idiomatic usage is derived from the "parade day" military use. A parade is much easier than the soldiers’ usual drilling and intense exercise.

This morning I got up, with great difficulty, at 6.30, and at 7.45 we started out for a Brigade Field Day. Did an attack from 10.30 to 2.30, but it wasn't a strenuous one for me as I was told to "become a casualty" soon after the 3000 yard assault began ….

1937, Siegfried Sassoon, Sherston's Progress, London: Faber, page 621 (in The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston ):

(military) A day for maneuvers and tactical exercises in the field (across the landscape).

(US military, specifically US Navy, US Coast Guard and US Marine Corps) A day on which there is top-to-bottom all-hands cleaning.


technical knockout

en-noun

technical knockout (plural technical knockouts)

technical knockouts (plural)
TKO (alternative)
R.K.O (alternative)

(martial arts) A knockout declared by a referee in cases where a participant is sufficiently injured, unbalanced, or confused and unable to continue the fight


BFE

They sent me way out in BFE looking for the parts.

(vulgar, military slang) Initialism of Bumfuck, Egypt.


heckler

[…] the usual gap between the time the last strike of the day departed and the first night hecklers arrived was closed with "zippers" — night fighters who, using day fighter tactics, proceeded to the target in daylight in time to relieve the last day blanket patrol.

(US, military, slang) An aircraft flying attack missions at night.


banquette

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

Borrowed from French banquette, the diminutive form of banc; by surface analysis, bank + -ette.

(military) A narrow area behind a defensive wall's parapet elevated above its terreplein and used by defenders to shoot at attackers.


intel

Intel is important in espionage.

We have reason to believe one of our people is giving intel to the enemy. Hit an enemy communication center and get us a name.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Identify the Spy:

“The Bynar ship went missing on stardate 58934.9.” “Okay, so your intel is legit, but this still feels like a trick.” “No. I'm a changed computer. Just look at me. Do you see the blue light?” “The light is reassuring.”

2023 October 12, Edgar Momplaisir, “A Few Badgeys More” (8:50 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 4, episode 7, spoken by Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid):

Aaaaaand that’s pretty much everything we know about Zazie and David’s ‘ship, but definitely check back here for any and all intel on the couple. ❤

2024 October 30, Gretty Garcia, “Zazie Beetz and David Rysdahl’s Relationship Timeline All in One Place”, in Cosmopolitan:

(especially espionage and military) Intelligence (secret information).


D-Day

A Ukrainian D-day is expected in weeks.

2023 April 2, Dan Sabbagh, Ed Ram, “Surrounded and outgunned, Ukraine’s tank crews prepare for battle of Bakhmut”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(figuratively, chiefly military) The date of any major event planned for the future.


surge

From Middle English surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent. Doublet of source. Doublet of sourd.

der

surge capacity; surge fleet; surge deployment capabilities

(US, naval, often attributive) A deployment in large numbers at short notice.


ERA

en-noun

ERA (countable and uncountable, plural ERAs)

(military) Initialism of explosive reactive armor.

(UK, military) Initialism of engine room artificer., a Royal Navy position


quoin

(firearms) A wedge of wood or iron put under the breech of heavy guns or the muzzle of siege-mortars to raise them to the proper level.


slick

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”).
Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).


pioneer

/ˌpaɪ.əˈnɪɹ/

From Middle French pionnier (“originally, a foot soldier”), Old French peonier, from peon (“a foot soldier”) (modern French: pion). See pawn (in chess).

uder

[King of] Fess. What thinks your greatnes beſt to be atchieu’d
In purſuit of the Cities ouerthrow?
Bai[azeth]. I wil the captiue Pioners of Argier,
Cut off the water, that by leaden pipes
Runs to the citie from the mountain Carnon, […]

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 III, scene i:

(military) A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances; a sapper.


ADT

en-noun

ADT (countable and uncountable, plural ADTs)

(military) Initialism of accumulated deployed time.

active duty for training
active duty for training#English

(military) Initialism of active duty for training.

(military) Initialism of ative duty tour.

Active Denial Technology
w:Active Denial Technology

(military, weaponry) Initialism of Active Denial Technology.


ROE

ROEs (plural)
RoE (alternative)
R.O.E. (alternative)
R. O. E. (alternative)
R.o.E. (alternative)
R. o. E. (alternative)

(military) Initialism of rule(s) of engagement. — a/the rule(s) governing when to fire or return fire


sit out

en-verb

sit out (third-person singular simple present sits out, present participle sitting out, simple past and past participle sat out)

sits out (present singular third-person)
sitting out (participle present)
sat out (participle past)
sat out (past)

(wrestling) To escape a hold while face down by swinging one's legs around into the sitting position.


scrape

en-noun

scrape (countable and uncountable, plural scrapes)

From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian (“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skrebʰ- (“to engrave”).
Cognate with Dutch schrapen (“to scrape”), schrappen (“to strike through; to cancel; to scrap”), schrabben (“to scratch”), German schrappen (“to scrape”), Danish skrabe (“to scrape”), Icelandic skrapa (“to scrape”), Walloon screper (“to scrape”), Latin scribō (“dig with a pen, draw, write”).

cog

In between rounds, he dug a scrape for himself with his entrenching tool.

(military) A shallow pit dug as a hideout.


catch-as-catch-can

In Lancashire and the north of Ireland, the catch-hold or catch-as-catch-can system still finds favour.

1980, Walter Armstrong, Wrestling, page x:

(wrestling) Relating to catch wrestling, a folk style of wrestling with minimal restrictions.


chancery

en-noun

chancery (countable and uncountable, plural chanceries)

/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/

/ˈt͡ʃænsəɹɪ/

/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹi/

From French chancellerie, from Late Latin cancellaria, from Latin cancellarius, from Latin cancellus (“lattice”) (English chancel), from Latin cancelli (“grating, bars”), from the lattice-work that separated a section of a church or court.
See related chancellor and chancellery, and the more distantly related incarcerate (“put behind bars”), from carcer (“prison”).
The adverbial form is an allusion to the condition of a person involved in the chancery court.

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:

(boxing, slang) The position of a boxer's head when under his adversary's arm.


chancery

/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/

/ˈt͡ʃænsəɹɪ/

/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹi/

[Round] 9. This was a scientific round on both sides; Acton got away well; and also parried some tremendous blows. The latter, however, received a chancery nobber; but he contended every inch of ground till he went down.

1823 May 14, “Sporting Intelligence”, in The Literary Humbug, number 1, page 15, Between Peter Crawley and Dick Acton:

15th round. Chancery. Fibbing. Biggs makes dreadful work with his left. Break away. Rally. Biggs down. Betting still six to four on the gown-boy.

1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “The Fight at Slaughter House”, in Men's Wives, page 17:

(boxing) With the head of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel it with the other fist at will.


Starfighter

(military, aviation) The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a jet fighter-interceptor.


anti-aircraft

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

antaircraft (alternative)
antiaircraft (alternative)

Special lamps were provided for working during the blackout, and an anti-aircraft gun, manned by the R.A.O.C., was mounted on the coal depot line.

1947 January and February, “Wartime Traffic at Tanfield, L.N.E.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 47:

Truth's ships are clustered above the excavation site. And his infantry has deployed anti-aircraft batteries around the perimeter.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Miranda Keyes (Justis Bolding), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Crow's Nest:


anti-aircraft

anti-aircraft (countable and uncountable, plural anti-aircraft or anti-aircrafts)

anti-aircraft (plural)
anti-aircrafts (plural)
antaircraft (alternative)
antiaircraft (alternative)

I am blacking out—ease the stick forward slightly—the sky is clear again—I turn out over water—reverse turn—there are antiaircraft on the island below—I reverse again—and again.

1944 June 3, Charles A. Lindbergh, The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1970, page 839:

(military) An anti-aircraft artillery organization.


enriched uranium

(chemistry, military) Uranium enriched with a higher than normal amount of the fissile isotope U-235; used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.

verrykte uraan

uranium enriched with a higher amount of U-235