dog

dog (countable and uncountable, plural dogs)

dogs (plural)
darg (alternative dialectal)
dawg (alternative dialectal)
dug (alternative dialectal)
doggie (alternative childish)
doggy (alternative childish)
doggy woggy (alternative childish)
doggo (alternative childish)

Australian Kriol: dog

Bislama: dog

Gullah: dog

Sranan Tongo: dagu

Tok Pisin: dok

Torres Strait Creole: dog

desc

→ American Sign Language: Kop@Inside-PalmForward 1o@Inside

→ Dutch: dog

→ Esperanto: dogo

Ido: dogo

→ French: dogue

→ German: Dogge

→ Italian: dogo

→ English: dogo

→ Portuguese: dogue

→ Russian: дог (dog)

→ Spanish: dogo

→ Volapük: dog, doeg

Inherited from Middle English dogge (akin to Scots dug), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin.
The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox). Another proposal is that it derives from Proto-West Germanic *dugan (“to be suitable”), the origin of Old English dugan (“to be good, worthy, useful”), English dow, Dutch deugen, German taugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal". Another is that it is related to *docce (“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā (“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence English dock (“stumpy tail”).
In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting. In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.
Despite similarities in forms and meaning, not related to Mbabaram dog.

hond

morally reprehensible person — see also scoundrel

it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

To this succeeded the Snaplance ^([sic]), in which a motion was given to the dog, or cock, and a movable plate of steel, called the frizel, or hammer, was placed vertically above the pan to receive the action of the flint.

1832, The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, volume 10, page 164:

(firearms, archaic) A cock, as of a gun.


dog

en-verb

dog (third-person singular simple present dogs, present participle dogging, simple past and past participle dogged)

dogs (present singular third-person)
dogging (participle present)
dogged (participle past)
dogged (past)
darg (alternative dialectal)
dawg (alternative dialectal)
dug (alternative dialectal)
doggie (alternative childish)
doggy (alternative childish)
doggy woggy (alternative childish)
doggo (alternative childish)

A. We never stood 4 to 8 p.m. watches, sir. We dogged our watches.
Q. I suppose that is 6 to 8 p.m., then; it is a little indistinct. I mean the second dog watch.

1902, Winfield Scott Schley, Record of Proceedings of a Court of Inquiry:

Meanwhile, we dogged the watch sections so that both halves of the crew could fetch full sea bags of uniforms and gear […]

2015, Tom Vetter, 30,000 Leagues Undersea:

(transitive, military) To divide (a watch) with a comrade.


encik

[ˈɪn˧.t͡ʃeʔ˦]

From Malay encik, from Hokkien 引叔 (ín-chek, “uncle”).

Singapore Armed Forces
w:Singapore Armed Forces

(Singapore, informal, military) Informal term of address for a male warrant officer in the Singapore Armed Forces.


CDI

en-noun

CDI (countable and uncountable, plural CDIs)

Lauren turned to him and said, “I grew up on Army bases, so I know what CDI means. Chicks Dig It. The average male thinks things that go boom have a higher CDI than the hard work of diplomacy.”

2013, Anne Calhoun, Uncommon Pleasure, Heat, →ISBN:

(US military slang) Ellipsis of CDI factor.


tubage

(military, historical) The process of lining a heavy gun by insertion of a tube of wrought iron, etc.


ADM

Coordinate term: SADM

atomic demolition munition
w:atomic demolition munition

(military) Initialism of atomic demolition munition.


ACM

(military) Initialism of anticoalition militia.


cantinière

Borrowed from French cantinière, from cantine (“sutler's shop, canteen”).

(military, historical) A woman who carries a canteen for soldiers; a vivandière.


fougade

'Twas not dumb chance, that, to discover the Fougade or Powder-plot, contrived a miscarriage in the Letter.

1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, I.17:

(military, historical) A kind of land mine; a fougasse.


Which is precisely why I'd volunteered as point man on this little jaunt, prowling and growling up the unlit stairwell of a Cairo slum at 0-dark-hundred to catch my quarry napping on his bedroll.

1996, Richard Marcinko, John Weisman, Green Team: Rogue Warrior III, page 4:

It's late, and we have to get up at 0-dark-hundred to got to Paris in the AM.

2011, Diane L. Sheridan, Don't Forget the Flippin' E: A Memoir, page 290:

(chiefly US military slang) An otherwise unspecified time of night; some time when it is dark out.


In the very early morning--0-dark-30--the veterans have the Wall entirely to themselves, which is the main reason that we go at that hour.

2002, Jonathan Shay, Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming:

(chiefly US military slang) Half an hour past 12(am) midnight, or more formal and exact would be 00:30; The practice of adding “dark” and “thirty” (30) can be used sometimes as a slang term in place of an otherwise specific time a time of night, meaning some time when it is dark out between 00:01 - 05:00 hours local time.


zoomies

I wouldn't go back there unless you want to get some zoomies!

How many zoomies did you get today?

(US military slang) Nontechnical units of radiation, such as are present in a compartment containing or near nuclear weapons or a nuclear reactor, or are picked up on a dosimeter.


ORB

(historical, military) Initialism of operations record book. (used by RAF)


personal defense weapon

personal defense weapon (plural personal defense weapons)

personal defense weapons (plural)
personal defence weapon (alternative)

(weaponry) A compact fully-automatic or semi-automatic firearm similar to a submachine gun but firing a rifle round.


aaa

(military) Initialism of anti-aircraft artillery.


langrel

The “Virgen del Pilar” was within five hundred yards of the harbour's mouth, when six sakers, charged now with langrel, chain and cross-bar, swept her decks with murderous effect and some damage to her shrouds.

1931, Rafael Sabatini, “The Chronicles Of Captain Blood”, in [aka Captain Blood Returns], published 2008, page 80:

Langrel shot was also intended to damage the enemy's rigging.

1987, Brian Lavery, The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War, 1600-1815, page 137:

“And ready the langrel shot,” he yelled to Smithy.
Isabel turned to Cutter, fear sparking within her. “What is langrel?” “A type of cannon shot meant to damage sails and masts. Never fear, milady. He means only to cripple them.”

2014, MaryLu Tyndall, Legacy of the King's Pirates 3: The Restitution, unnumbered page:

(military, naval, obsolete or historical) Langrage (scraps of metal used to fire at an enemy).


post-captain

post-captains (plural)
post captain (alternative)
postcaptain (alternative)

From both the action of taking or making post (“occupying an established military position”) and the practice of posting (“publicly announcing”) the names of such officers in the London Gazette.

The general principle which governs the navies of the old world is... when the Post is attained, then promotion is by inheritance... If a Post Captain in the English navy lives long enough, he is certain of being an Admiral, though not before he is sixty years of age... Hence it is manifest that the public interest no more requires the new grade of Admiral to be added to the navy, than it does the bestowing of orders of nobility on all the diplomatic agents, who represent the United States at the different courts of Europe.

1836 March 17, 'Candor', "The Navy", Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. II, No. 11, p. 173

(UK military, informal, obsolete) A captain of the 18th or 19th-century Royal Navy in command of a vessel, with his subsequent promotions almost always determined by seniority rather than merit or ability.


schwerpunkt

/ˈʃvɛɹpʊŋkt/

/ˈʃvɛəpʊŋkt/

From German Schwerpunkt (“center of gravity, focal point, focus”), from schwer (“heavy”) + Punkt (“point”).

bor

Should it be the schwerpunkt of Labor's attack or will it be an unproductive dilution of forces?

2006 June 12, Terry Sweetman, “Kim Finds a Sore Point”, in The Courier-Mail, Brisbane:

In the only arty shot, the Dalai Lama, seen in silhouette, sits at the schwerpunkt of a Mondrian-like composition."

2004 June 25, Meir Ronnen, “Happy Families?”, in The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem:

The schwerpunkt must be an application for which Shen is ideally suited; one where its unique strengths will make it difficult to mount any effective opposition to our advance and which we can develop quickly.

2012 April 23, Mark Tarver, “finding the schwerpunkt”, in Google, retrieved 2012-09-25:

(military) main point, main target; point upon which the most effort is concentrated (e.g. during an attack)


antiartillery

an antiartillery radar system


caponier

caponiers (plural)
caponiere (alternative)

/ˌkæp.əˈnɪə/

/ˌkæp.əˈnɪɚ/

(military, historical) A work made across or in a ditch, to protect it from the enemy (as fire from it could cover the ditch), or to serve as a covered passageway (e.g. to outworks).


shooting glasses

(firearms) A type of impact-resistant eyewear worn by shooters to prevent injury due to a cartridge or gun malfunction blowing hot gas or metal particles into the shooter's face.


executive officer

en-noun

executive officer (plural executive officers)

(military) second in command of a military unit or ship


BAE

(military, nautical, initialism) The ship prefix for ships of the navy of Ecuador.


slow march

[T]he Rector emerged, erect as a cane, from his garden, and proceeded in slow march, his hands behind him, down the cemetery.

1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Further Communications on Business”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 72:

This was no other than a column of foot soldiers, marching with perfect regularity. . . . On they came at a slow march.

c. 1851, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, “The Spectre Lovers”, in Ghost Stories of Chapelizod:

(sometimes military) A controlled walking pace in a deliberate, steady, rhythmic manner.


hiper

A tall wrestler who is an expert hiper is always a terror to a man of smaller stature. Edward Norman, of Carlisle, who stands close on six feet, is at present the best hiper in England.

1890, Walter Armstrong, Wrestling, page 14:

(wrestling) A wrestler who uses the hipe technique.


chemical warfare

(military) The use of toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons of war, through the intentional exposure of enemy forces to such substances.

化學戰 /化学战

use of chemical substances as weapons of war


proving ground

(military) A terrain or installation for testing weapons, military equipment, or tactics.


throwing axe

throwing axes (plural)
throwing ax (alternative)
throwing-ax (alternative)
throwing-axe (alternative)

(weaponry) An axe that is used as a missile weapon.


organ gun

/ˌɔːɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

/ˌɔɹɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

From organ + gun. The multiple barrels of the device were thought to resemble the pipes of a pipe organ.

The attempts to re-invest the artillery with its one-time superiority were directed in two channels: one aimed at perfecting shrapnel, which had been rather neglected up to this time (England, Prussia, Austria), while the other resurrected the mediaeval idea of the "barrel-organ gun," with a view of assembling a number of rifle barrels and of combining thereby the accuracy of the small arm with the moral effect of canister.

1911, William Balck, “VI. Machine Guns”, in Tactics, Volume 1: Introduction and Formal Tactics of Infantry, page 259:

(firearms, historical) A large, portable firearm normally supported by wheels, in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession; it was chiefly used from the 14th to the 17th century.

Bellifortis
Giuseppe Marco Fieschi
Konrad Kyeser
Louis Philippe I
Musée des Archives Nationales

арга́н

portable firearm in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession


rodelero

(history, military) A type of trooper from Spain, who sported a rodela (a round type of shield) and often a side-sword.

रोडेलेरो

trooper from Spain who would sport a rodela


forend

(firearms) Part of a rifle, underneath the barrel, where it is supported by the hand.


holy-water sprinkle

holy-water sprinkle (plural holy-water sprinkles)

/ˈhəʊliˌwɔːtə ˈspɹɪŋkl̩/

PIE word
 *kéh₂ilos
From Late Middle English haly water spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”), from haly water, hōlī water (“water consecrated for use in religious ceremonies”) + sprenkil, springel, spryngelle (“sprinkler for holy water”). By surface analysis, holy water + sprinkle.
Sense 2 (“weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff”) is from its resemblance to the aspergillum, and apparently from the fact that it scattered blood when it came into contact with a person.

ref

From the collection of the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

From the collection of the museum of the Château de Dinan in Dinan, Brittany, France.

nb...

bookseller, 132, Fleet Street; and sold by all booksellers and news-agents throughout the kingdom.

The weapons, called by Germans "Morgen-stern," and in old English Inventories "holy-water sprinkles," from a certain resemblance to the aspergillum used in churches, are comparatively rare in the armories of this country. […] In the Tower survey of 1547 they are often mentioned; e.g.—'Great holly water sprincles, 118; Holly water sprincles with gonnes in th'ende, 7; Little holly water sprincles, 392; Holly water sprincle with three gonnes in the topp, 1.' The last-named is, without doubt, the club with iron spikes and short fire barrels still exhibited in the tower, with more or less of sensational additamenta relating to Henry VIII.

1547 (date written), “Proceedings at Meetings of the Royal Archeological Institute. November 1, 1867. [Antiquities and Works of Art Exhibited.]”, in The Archaeological Journal, volume XXV, London: Published at the office of the [Royal Archaeological] Institute [of Great Britain and Ireland], published 1868, →OCLC, pages 87–88:

To sprinkle the holy water was the cant-phrase for fetching blood, which will account for the appellation, as there is no resemblance between the weapon so called and the aspergillum. Fig. 1.—A holy-water-sprinkle of the fifteenth century. It is a wooden mallet, bound with iron and furnished with iron spikes. […] Fig. 3.—A petty-holy-water-sprinkle to hand at the saddle bow. The whole, except the handle, is of iron.

1854, Samuel Rush Meyrick, “Plate XCII. Holy-water Sprinkles, &c.”, in Engraved Illustrations of Antient Arms and Armour, from the Collection at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire; […], volume II, London: Henry G[eorge] Bohn [for John Skelton], […], →OCLC:

The horse-chestnuts showed the little green knobs which would soon enlarge and hang all prickly, like the spiked balls of a holy-water sprinkle, such as was once used in the wars.

a. 1888 (date written), Richard Jefferies, “An English Deer-park”, in J[essie] Jefferies, compiler, Field and Hedgerow: Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies […], London; New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], published 1889, →OCLC, page 296:

(by extension, weaponry, historical) A 16th-century weapon consisting of a heavy ball set with spikes attached rigidly to a staff, used mainly in England; a morning star.


victory roll

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling) A wrestling pin in which the attacking wrestler jumps onto the opponent's shoulders from behind and rolls forward. As the attacker flips over, they hook the opponent's shoulders with their legs, flipping the opponent over onto their shoulders. The attacker hooks both of the opponent's legs to hold them in place for the pin.


Buk

From Russian Бук (Buk, “codename for a missile system”), from бук (buk, “beech tree”). Doublet of beech.

der

But systems like our S-300 V, Buk-M1, Tor, and Osa actually destroyed all the targets with a single missile.

1992, “New Priorities Set for Ground Forces Air Defense”‚ in Central Eurasia Joint Publications Research Service Report (Military Affairs n 40), Foreign Broadcast Information Service, p 17

A photo shows that the UAVs employed by Georgia are Hermes 450s and they have reportedly been downed by Buk SAMs.

2008, Aviation News v 70, Saint Leonards-on-Sea, UK: HPC Publishing, p 5

2014, “Buk missile launcher, suspected in jetliner attack, requires skill to use”,http://www.cbsnews.com/news/buk-missile-launcher-suspected-in-jetliner-attack-requires-skill-to-use/ CBSNews.com, July 18,
Pentagon officials say the missile likely came from an SA-11 or SA-17 launch vehicle -- otherwise known as a "Buk." Both Russia and Ukraine have Buks, as do most other former Soviet Union states and China.

(military) A type of self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system from the Soviet Union.

Бук

a type of self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system


ACH

Advanced Combat Helmet
w:Advanced Combat Helmet

(military, US) Initialism of Advanced Combat Helmet.


Fulcrum

(military) NATO code name for the Soviet MiG-29 aircraft.


(firearms, informal) The .22 Long Rifle calibre.

(firearms, informal) A firearm chambered in that calibre.


EMALS

w:Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System

(military, aviation) Initialism of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System.


salt horse

en-noun

salt horse (countable and uncountable, plural salt horses)

From the fact that horse meat was considered especially unappetizing and rarely eaten, but that the meat had been so heavily salted and dried that it could just be horse meat passed off as beef.

(countable, UK, naval) A naval officer or rating whose training and experience have qualified him as a seaman rather than in any specialised trade.


petardier

petardiers (plural)
petardeer (alternative)

(military, historical) One who managed a petard.


PTI

(military, training, UK) Initialism of Physical Training Instructor.


ack emma

(British, military) a.m.; in the morning


neuroweapon

(military) Any weapon that targets the nervous system of an enemy combatant


LCT

landing craft tank
landing craft tank#English

(nautical, military) Initialism of landing craft tank.


landing craft tank

landing craft tank (plural landing craft tanks)

landing craft tanks (plural)
Landing Craft, Tank (alternative)
tank landing craft (alternative)
TLC (alternative)

(military, nautical) an amphibious assault water vessel designed to transport a tank across water to directly onto shore, where the tank may roll off the vessel onto the shore, while under enemy fire.


pederero

pederero (plural pedereros or pedereroes)

pedereros (plural)
pedereroes (plural)
paderero (alternative)
paterero (alternative)
peterero (alternative)

From Spanish pedrero, from Medieval Latin petrarium. Compare petrary.

His habitation is defended by a ditch, over which he has laid a draw-bridge, and planted his court-yard with patereroes continually loaded with shot […].

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

(military, now historical) A short piece of chambered ordnance, used to fire stones in naval and siege warfare.


Chats

I think it is a libel, for I have yet to learn that West Country sailor-men are fonder of their victuals than those from 'Pompey' (Portsmouth), or 'Chats' (Chatham), or than Scotsmen, Irishmen, or Welshmen.

1918, Chambers's Journal, volume 95, page 393:

He leaned half his body out of the carriage window as we slowly pulled over the timber baulks of the rebuilt bridges, and shouted 'Up the workers!' until a Petty Officer in the next compartment also leaned out and told him, 'Shit in it, you bloody Bolshie, or I'll have your cap as soon as we get to Chats.'
[…] Once inside the prison-like walls of Chatham barracks we were all marched into the drafting office […]

1997, Tristan Jones, Heart of Oak, page 132:


tankie

From tank + -ie.
Senses 1 and 2 were named for the tanks used by the Soviet Union against uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Central Intelligence Agency
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

Obviously a thrust by the tankies over the ridge and through the minefield was just not on, there and then in broad daylight, a fact they appeared to recognise. At that stage the Germans were well positioned to give them a warm reception with their powerful 88s and other artillery.

1981, Noel “Wig” [Frank] Gardiner, “A Team Talk with the Tankies”, in Freyberg's Circus: Reminiscences of a Kiwi Soldier in the North African Campaign of World War II, Auckland: Ray Richards Publisher, →ISBN, page 88:

Breakfast was taken alongside a curious tank without a turret. When I asked about it a tankie sergeant said, 'It's a Kangaroo: that's a Sherman without a turret. The Canadians make them.[…]'

2006, David Fiddimore, Charlie's War, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 186:

Caine focused on the RTR [Royal Tank Regiment] badge directly above Glenn's left eye. 'Never had you down as a tankie, sir,' he said. 'Always thought you were a greenjacket through and through.' Glenn snorted. 'I'm no more a tankie than you are,' he said, curling back dry lips to show the slablike teeth.

2010, Michael Asher, The Flaming Sword (Death or Glory; part 2), London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN:

(military, slang) A soldier from a tank regiment.


MCTFS

Marine Corps Total Force System
w:Marine Corps Total Force System

(military, US) Initialism of Marine Corps Total Force System.


DFAS

w:Defense Finance and Accounting Service

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Finance and Accounting Service.


DIMHRS

w:Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System.


OQR

Officer Qualification Record
w:Officer Qualification Record

(military, US) Initialism of Officer Qualification Record.


(military, US) Abbreviation of DD Form 214.


NDAA

National Defense Authorization Act
w:National Defense Authorization Act

(military, US) Initialism of National Defense Authorization Act.


STOVL

(military, aviation) Acronym of short takeoff and vertical landing.


BUPERS

Bureau of Naval Personnel
w:Bureau of Naval Personnel

(military, US) Initialism of Bureau of Naval Personnel.


FSSG

(military) Initialism of force service support group.


MAGTF

Marine Air-Ground Task Force
w:Marine Air-Ground Task Force

(military, US) Initialism of Marine Air-Ground Task Force.


AAV

Assault Amphibious Vehicle
w:Assault Amphibious Vehicle

(military) Initialism of Assault Amphibious Vehicle.


EFV

EFV (countable and uncountable, plural EFVs)

Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle
w:Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

(military, US) Initialism of Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.


NROTC

Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps
w:Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps

(military, US) Initialism of Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.


NHHC

Naval History & Heritage Command
w:Naval History & Heritage Command

(military, US) Initialism of Naval History & Heritage Command.


BSM

(military, US) Initialism of Bronze Star Medal.


DFC

Distinguished Flying Cross
w:Distinguished Flying Cross

(US, military) Initialism of Distinguished Flying Cross.


MARSOC

w:Marine Corps Special Operations Command

(military, US) Acronym of Marine Corps Special Operations Command.


CNIC

Commander, Navy Installations Command
w:Commander, Navy Installations Command

(military, US) Initialism of Commander, Navy Installations Command.


OCHR

(military, US) Initialism of Office of Civilian Human Resources.


AUTEC

w:Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center

(military, US) Initialism of Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center.


BUMED

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
w:Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

(military, US) Acronym of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.


DEVGRU

w:United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group

(military, US) Abbreviation of United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group.


CMC

CMC (countable and uncountable, plural CMCs)

Commandant of the Marine Corps
w:Commandant of the Marine Corps

(military, US) Initialism of Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Central Military Commission
w:Central Military Commission

(military, PRC) Initialism of Central Military Commission.

command master chief petty officer
w:command master chief petty officer

(military, US) Initialism of command master chief petty officer.


MCPON

w:Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

(military, US) Initialism of Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy.


USNA

United States Naval Academy
w:United States Naval Academy

(military, US) Initialism of United States Naval Academy.


CNO

“You know, I really didn't have much to do with Vietnam. In the summer of 1964, I went to work for the assistant CNO for submarine warfare, Op 02. But that summer, Op 03—that's surface warfare—was developing new ASW strategies.”

1996, William Martin, Annapolis, New York: Tom Doherty Associates, published 2010, →ISBN, page 761:

Chief of Naval Operations
w:Chief of Naval Operations

(US, military) Initialism of Chief of Naval Operations.


LOA

(military, US) Initialism of letter of appreciation.


AAFES

Army and Air Force Exchange Service
w:Army and Air Force Exchange Service

(military, US) Acronym of Army and Air Force Exchange Service.


ALBM

air-launched ballistic missile
w:air-launched ballistic missile

(military, US) Initialism of air-launched ballistic missile.


SgtMaj

(military, US) Abbreviation of sergeant major..


SMA

SMA (countable and uncountable, plural SMAs)

sergeant Major of the Army
w:sergeant Major of the Army

(military, US) Initialism of sergeant Major of the Army.


SgtMajMarCor

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
w:Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

(military, US) Abbreviation of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.


SMMC

(military, US) Initialism of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.


CQB

(military, US) Initialism of close-quarters battle.


OBUA

(military, US) Initialism of operations in built-up areas.


MOOTW

Military operations other than war
w:Military operations other than war

(military, US) Initialism of Military operations other than war.


RAPIDS

w:Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System

(military, US) Acronym of Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System.


DMDC

Defense Manpower Data Center
w:Defense Manpower Data Center

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Manpower Data Center.


DLA

Defense Logistics Agency
w:Defense Logistics Agency

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Logistics Agency.


OSD

Office of the Secretary of Defense
w:Office of the Secretary of Defense

(military, US) Initialism of Office of the Secretary of Defense.


WHS

Washington Headquarters Services
w:Washington Headquarters Services

(military, US) Initialism of Washington Headquarters Services.


NGIA

(military, US) Initialism of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.


PFT

He could be the worst marine ever—he could be fat and nasty, and I could be running a perfect PFT.

2010, Laura Browder, Sascha Pflaeging, When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 137:

physical fitness test
w:physical fitness test

(military, US) Initialism of physical fitness test.


SMEAC

(military) Acronym of situation, mission, execution admin (logistics) command (signal).


VBIED

improvised explosive device
improvised explosive device#English

(military, US) Initialism of vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.


UUV

Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
w:Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

(military, US) Initialism of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle.


LtCol

LtCols (plural)
LTCOL (alternative)
Lt.Col. (alternative)
Lt. Col. (alternative)

Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel#English

(military, US, abbreviation) Lieutenant Colonel.


CVN

Initialism for Cruiser Voler Nuclear. See French voler (“to fly”).

(military, US) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier


STOBAR

short take-off but arrested recovery
w:short take-off but arrested recovery

(military, aviation) Acronym of short take-off but arrested recovery.


ISTAR

target acquisition
target acquisition#English

(military, US) Acronym of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance.


NAVMC

Marine Corps
w:United States Marine Corps

(military, US) Initialism of Navy and Marine Corps.


RCCPDS

(military, US) Initialism of Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System.


ACCPDS

(military, US) Initialism of Active Component Common Personnel Data System.


JPAS

(military, US) Initialism of Joint Personnel Adjudication System.


HMMWV

(military, US) Abbreviation of high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle.


PTS

PTS (countable and uncountable, plural PTSs)

(military) Plavayushchij Transportyer - Sryednyj: a Soviet tracked amphibious transport vehicle


DTIC

Defense Technical Information Center
w:Defense Technical Information Center

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Technical Information Center.


ASTIA

w:Armed Services Technical Information Agency

(military, US) Initialism of Armed Services Technical Information Agency.


QDR

(military, US) Initialism of Quadrennial Defense Review.


AAAV

Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle
w:Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle

(military) Initialism of Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle.


LMTV

Light Medium Tactical Vehicle
w:Light Medium Tactical Vehicle

(military, US) Initialism of Light Medium Tactical Vehicle.


FMTV

Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles
w:Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles

(military, US) Initialism of Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.


CSIB

Combat Service Identification Badge
w:Combat Service Identification Badge

(military, US) Initialism of Combat Service Identification Badge.


ACU

Army Combat Uniform
w:Army Combat Uniform

(military, US) Initialism of Army Combat Uniform.

Assault Craft Unit
Assault Craft Unit#English

(military, nautical, US) Initialism of Assault Craft Unit.


DCU

Desert Camouflage Uniform
w:Desert Camouflage Uniform

(military, US) Initialism of Desert Camouflage Uniform.


NECC

Navy Expeditionary Combat Command
w:Navy Expeditionary Combat Command

(military, US) Initialism of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.


SCWS

w:Seabee combat warfare specialist insignia

(military, US) Initialism of Seabee combat warfare specialist.


EIB

EIB (countable and uncountable, plural EIBs)

Expert Infantryman Badge
w:Expert Infantryman Badge

(military, US, countable) Initialism of Expert Infantryman Badge.


SINCGARS

w:Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System

(military, US) Initialism of Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System.


CNR

(military, US) Initialism of Combat-net radio.


JTRS

Joint Tactical Radio System
w:Joint Tactical Radio System

(military, US) Initialism of Joint Tactical Radio System.


ACMC

w:Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps

(military, US) Initialism of Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.


HSM

Humanitarian Service Medal
w:Humanitarian Service Medal

(military, US) Initialism of Humanitarian Service Medal.


GWOT

In the 2008 presidential election, although both candidates were caught within the GWOT discourse trap, there was an attempt by the Democrats to contest the content of the GWOT by arguing that Afghanistan was the central front in the war on terror, rather than Iraq.

2013, Jeffrey H. Michaels, The Discourse Trap and the US Military […] , Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN:

(military, US) Initialism of Global War on Terrorism.


AFSM

Armed Forces Service Medal
w:Armed Forces Service Medal

(military, US) Initialism of Armed Forces Service Medal.


NMCC

National Military Command Center
w:National Military Command Center

(military, US) Initialism of National Military Command Center.


AFRM

(military, US) Initialism of Armed Forced Reserve Medal.


SMCR

Selected Marine Corps Reserve
w:Selected Marine Corps Reserve

(military, US) Initialism of Selected Marine Corps Reserve.


OIF

Operation Iraqi Freedom
w:Operation Iraqi Freedom

(military, US) Initialism of Operation Iraqi Freedom.


OEF

Operation Enduring Freedom
w:Operation Enduring Freedom

(military, US) Initialism of Operation Enduring Freedom.


MEU

marine expeditionary unit
w:marine expeditionary unit

(military, US) Acronym of marine expeditionary unit.


FMF

(US, military) Initialism of Fleet Marine Force.

w:United States Foreign Military Financing

(US, military) Initialism of Foreign Military Financing.


SIOP

(military, US) Acronym of Single Integrated Operational Plan.


MSC

Military Sealift Command
w:Military Sealift Command

(military, US) Initialism of Military Sealift Command: an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy.


MOLLE

(military, US, initialism) Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment.


PALS

Pouch Attachment Ladder System
w:Pouch Attachment Ladder System

(military, US) Initialism of Pouch Attachment Ladder System.


LCE

Load-Carrying Equipment
w:Load-Carrying Equipment

(military, US) Initialism of Load-Carrying Equipment.


IIFS

Individual Integrated Fighting System
w:Individual Integrated Fighting System

(military, US) Initialism of Individual Integrated Fighting System.


CANEX

Canadian Forces Exchange System
w:Canadian Forces Exchange System

(military, US) Abbreviation of Canadian Forces Exchange System.


MCCS

(military, US) Initialism of Marine Corps Community Services.

(military, US, humorous) Initialism of Marine Corps crime syndicate.


DoDEA

w:Department of Defense Education Activity

(military, US) Acronym of Department of Defense Education Activity.


MSIC

Missile and Space Intelligence Center
w:Missile and Space Intelligence Center

(military, US) Initialism of Missile and Space Intelligence Center.


(military, US, initialism) Command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance


PASGT

w:Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops

(military, US) Initialism of Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops.


MICH

(military, US, initialism) Modular Integrated Communications Helmet.


MARPAT

MARPAT (countable and uncountable, plural MARPATs)

(military, US, abbreviation) Marine pattern (a form of camouflage).


ACMH

Army Center of Military History
w:Army Center of Military History

(military, US) Initialism of Army Center of Military History.


UNIKOM

w:United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission

(military) Initialism of United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission..


UNFICYP

w:United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

(military) Initialism of United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.


NVG

(military) Initialism of night vision goggles.


NVD

Night Vision Device
w:Night Vision Device

(military, US) Initialism of Night Vision Device.


MSTAR

w:Man-portable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar

(military, US) Initialism of Man-portable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar.


ALICE

(military, US, initialism) All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment.


master gunnery sergeant

master gunnery sergeant (plural master gunnery sergeants)

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(military, US) A non-commissioned officer of rank E-9 in the United States Marine Corps, ranking above a master sergeant/first sergeant and below a warrant officer. It is equal in grade to sergeant major


ANGLICO

Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
w:Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company

(military, US) Acronym of Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company.


BAH

Basic Allowance for Housing
w:Basic Allowance for Housing

(military, US) Initialism of Basic Allowance for Housing.


BAS

B.A.S. (alternative)
B. A. S. (alternative)

(military, US) Initialism of basic allowance for subsistence.


DLPT

Defense Language Proficiency Tests
w:Defense Language Proficiency Tests

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Language Proficiency Tests.


DLAB

Defense Language Aptitude Battery
w:Defense Language Aptitude Battery

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Language Aptitude Battery.


DLI

Defense Language Institute
w:Defense Language Institute

(military, US) Initialism of Defense Language Institute.


MGIB

(military, US) Initialism of Montgomery GI Bill.


MPRC

Military Personnel Records Center
w:Military Personnel Records Center

(military, US) Initialism of Military Personnel Records Center.


MIHA

(military, US) Acronym of move in housing allowance.


BESS

Basic Enlisted Submarine School
w:Basic Enlisted Submarine School

(military, US) Initialism of Basic Enlisted Submarine School.


BFTT

Battle Force Tactical Training
w:Battle Force Tactical Training

(military, US) Initialism of Battle Force Tactical Training.


CNATT

w:Center For Naval Aviation Technical Training

(military, US) Initialism of Center For Naval Aviation Technical Training.


buttstroke

In the video game Halo, buttstrokes do the same damage regardless of the weapon you use.

(military, slang) The act of striking a person with the butt of a rifle.


MANTA

(military, US) Acronym of multiaxis no-tail aircraft.


covering fire

(military) supporting fire; small-arms fire directed at an enemy to prevent them firing elsewhere.


coupe-gorge

Borrowed from French coupe-gorge (literally “cut-throat”).

bor

(military) Any position giving the enemy such advantage that the troops occupying it must either surrender or be cut to pieces.


one ball, one tracer
one ball, one tracer#English

(military) Abbreviation of one ball, one tracer, meaning that the normal rounds in the gun are alternated with tracer rounds.


buncher

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

Each airfield had its own buncher which emitted a particular radio signal. Each plane had a radio compass so that when we flew toward the buncher, the compass would go straight up. When we flew over the buncher, it would point straight down.

2008, W. C. Gibson, “54: Lieutenant W.C. Gibson”, in Alan L. Griggs, editor, Flying Flak Alley: Personal Accounts of World War II Bomber Crew Combat, page 247:

(military, RAF, World War II) A ground-based radio transmitter, configured within a system to guide aircraft to their allocated airfields.


Peabody action

Named after the inventor, Henry O. Peabody of Boston, Massachusetts.

(firearms, historical) An early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle.


split-tail

I have encountered officers who believe a woman got a better assignment or somehow "got over" because of her sex. It's a shock to their egos that some "split-tail"—yes, I've had that original thrown my way—could possibly be more talented.

1992, United States Naval Institute Proceedings, volume 118, page 23:

(US, military, slang, possibly offensive) A woman.


RNR

Royal Naval Reserve
w:Royal Naval Reserve

(military) Initialism of Royal Naval Reserve.

Royal Newfoundland Regiment
w:Royal Newfoundland Regiment

(military) Initialism of Royal Newfoundland Regiment.


seven-level

seven-levels (plural)
seven level (alternative)

Shortened from a longer, bureaucratic US military designation (an Air Force Specialty Code), where '7' was code for "Craftsman".

I asked how they were doing and they said they couldn't figure out the T.O. and were waiting for a seven level to explain it to them. I went back to my truck and told maintenance control we'd need a seven level radio man.

1966, The MAC FLYER, volume 13, number 5, Directorate of Safety, Headquarters Military Airlift Command, page 29:

Follow-on training would take place after completion of the basic apprentice or craftsman courses. Three-level students would attend ATHRS training, and select 7-level students (approximately 49 per year) would attend AFBDS training.

2003, Air Force Logistics Management Agency, Year in Review, 2003, DIANE Publishing, page 169:

The Civil Engineer (CE) Readiness Flight Officer and seven-level Craftsman courses provide flight leaders and mid-level NCOs with the background and the technical information that is necessary for effective management of the CE Readiness Flight and contingency response operations.

2003, Department of Defense Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Program Annual Report to Congress 2003, DIANE Publishing, page 107:

While I was assigned to the parachute shop, although I was in charge and was the senior NCO in charge of two other SSgt's and seven airmen, I was still only a five level and could not be promoted to TSgt without making a seven level.

2005, Richard R. Simmons, A Long Hard Ride, AuthorHouse, page 116:

(military, US) A person who has qualified for "Craftsman" level of skill in the United States Air Force, with more training than "Journeyman" (five-level), but less than a "Superintendent" (nine-level)


scope dope

(military, slang, US) An officer responsible for radar.


tank trap

Land mines make good tank traps.

1954, Weapons: a pictorial history, page 139:

(military) Anything placed to impede the movement of tanks, such as large caltrops, Czech hedgehogs, dragon's teeth, mines, or depressions in the ground.

tankcsapda

anything placed to impede the movement of tanks


scalado

Adrastus firſt aduanſt his creſt aloft, / And boldly gan a ſtrong ſcalado reare, / And through the falling ſtorme did vpward clime / Of ſtones, dartes, arrovves, fire, pitch and lime: […]

1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Eleuenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 34, page 202:


scalade

From Italian scalada, scalata. Doublet of escalade.


poison gas

en-noun

poison gas (countable and uncountable, plural poison gases or poison gasses)

poison gases (plural)
poison gasses (plural)

[...] approximately 23,000 members of the L.M.S.R. staff were trained in methods approved by the Home Office for dealing with the consequences of an air raid, including the effects of poison gas and incendiary bombs.

1939 November, Charles E. Lee, “Railways and the War — I”, in Railway Magazine, page 315:

(military) Any poisonous gas used as a chemical weapon.


A1C Carole Goodman was bored.

airman 1st class
airman 1st class#English

(military) Abbreviation of airman 1st class.


Richard Schram, Air Force A1/C, Korea

2011, Bob Frankenstein, Counterfeit Peace: The Cold War The Wisconsin Connection Book Two:


(US, military, historical) Fokker A-2 air ambulance that did not see production.

...showing that Arnold did not trust his own A-2 to undertake the targeting assignment.

1996, John F. Kreiss, Piercing the Fog: Intelligence and Army Air Forces Operations in World War II:

(military) Intelligence section of an air force staff.

The Air Intelligence Officer (A-2) would then present new items...

1998, Ian Gooderson, Air Power at the Battlefront:

(military) Intelligence officer on an air force staff.


I was still a two-striper (A2/c) I couldn't afford phone calls.

2010, Franklin D. Duke, 21 Years in Blue: Story of Frank's Air Force Career 1951-1972:


Authorized grade of A2C (E-3).

2012, The Code Of Federal Regulations Of The United States Of America:


Col. Cecil E. Combs (A-3) Combat Operations

1986, Haywood S. Hansell, The strategic air war against Germany and Japan:

(military) Air operations and training officer.

At the policy level, the functions of planning and establishing policies were lodged in A-1 (Personnel), (A-2) Intelligence, (A-3) Training...

1989, Robert Frank Futrell, Ideas, Concepts, Doctrine : Basic Thinking in the United States Air Force 1907-1960:

(military) Operations and training section of an Air Force staff.

(military) Sky warrior twin engine all weather attack aircraft.


and those of us who finished were promoted to the grade of airman third class - A3/C.

2006, Wolfgang W.E. Samuel, Coming to Colorado:


Another case involved an A3C "N."

1967, The United States Air Force JAG Law Review:


(military) Skyhawk single engine attack aircraft.

Deployed to a provisional air base squadron as the LG and serving as an A-4 officer...

(military) Air material and supply officer.

A-4 or S-4, performs all staff functions pertaining to supply and maintenance.

1944, AAF The Official Guide To The Army Air Forces:

(military) Material and supply section of an Air Force staff.


...plans and civil aviation divisions were established on the staff division level as A-5.

1948, Report of the Secretary of the Air Force to the Secretary of Defense for the fiscal year 1948:

(military) The planning section of an Air Force staff.

(military) Vigilante supersonic attack aircraft.


(military) Intruder twin engine low-altitude attack aircraft.

A-6 Communications.

(military) Communications section of an Air Force staff.


(military) Corsair single engine light attack bomber.


(military) Lansen single seat fighter craft, used from 1955-1997.


[…] and the Saab A-60, the strike version of the Saab 105.

(military) The strike version of the Saab 105 twin-engine training aircraft.


aa & a

(military) Initialism of armor., armament, and ammunition.


AA&A

(military) Initialism of armor, armament, and ammunition.


little people

(military slang, dated) The Vietnamese, particularly in the Vietnam War.


AAB

army artillery board
army artillery board#English

(military) Initialism of army artillery board.

anti-aircraft battery
anti-aircraft battery#English

(military) Initialism of anti-aircraft battery.


AABFS

amphibious assault bulk fuel system#English

(military) Initialism of amphibious assault bulk fuel system.


AABNCP

advanced airborne command post
advanced airborne command post#English

(military) Abbreviation of advanced airborne command post.


AACFT

(military) Abbreviation of army aircraft.


AACM

anti-armor cluster munition
anti-armor cluster munition#English

(military) Initialism of anti-armor cluster munition.


AACOM

Army Area Command
Army Area Command#English

(military) Acronym of Army Area Command.


AACP

(military) Initialism of advanced airborne command post.


AACU

(military) Acronym of anti-aircraft cooperation unit.


AACV

assault air-cushion vehicle
assault air-cushion vehicle#English

(military) Initialism of assault air-cushion vehicle.


AADA

(military) Initialism of advanced air depot area.

(military) Initialism of army air defense area.

(military) Initialism of anti-aircraft defended area.


rallying point

At last, 'Ali, perceiving that her camel was the rallying-point of the enemy, sent one of his captains to hamstring, and thus disable it. With a loud cry the animal fell to the ground.

1924, William Muir, “chapter 35”, in The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline and Fall:

(military) A designated area for troops to concentrate upon; a sign marking such area


human shield

(military) Civilians which a military group has deliberately placed combat targets near to deter an enemy from attacking those targets.


Bell shot

After Walter "Karamojo" Bell, a Scottish big game hunter.

(hunting, firearms) A shot at an animal's head taken diagonally from behind.


concussion fuse

concussion fuse (plural concussion fuses)

(military) A fuse that is ignited by the concussion of the shell when it strikes.


paper hunting

(firearms, informal, sometimes derogatory) target shooting


stay-behind

stay-behinds (plural)
stay behind (alternative)

a. 2000, Sam Halpern, Quoted in 2000, James Srodes, Allen Dulles: Master of Spies, page 545,
Bobby Kennedy believed the Mafia had lots of interests in and people in Cuba; he was absolutely convinced that they had left stay-behinds in Cuba and all they had to do was tap into those stay-behinds.

Diem chose instead to use his military forces and police to capture and kill the Viet Minh “stay-behinds,” even though these actually posed little or no threat to the country, since a good share of them were simply not Communists and those that had been had either recanted in favor of the Diem government or returned to the north.

2003, Bradley O'Leary, L. E. Seymour, Triangle of Death, unnumbered page:

Ganser closely documents activities of “stay-behinds” in 14 western nations — spies and agents with Nazi and Fascist backgrounds, secretly installed by NATO following the Second World War to counter a supposed Soviet threat.

2011, David MacGregor, “Update: September 11 as “Macchiavellian State Terror””, in Paul Zarembka, editor, The Hidden History of 9/11, unnumbered page:

(military) An agent who lives in a foreign country, and can be activated in certain circumstances.


antiparachute

(military) Opposing parachutes or parachutists.


Hustler

(military) The Convair B-58 Hustler airplane.


Broomhandle Mauser

Broomhandle Mauser (plural Broomhandle Mausers)

(firearms, informal) The Mauser C96 pistol.


desant

From Russian десант (desant), from French descente (“descent”), in reference to parachuting. Doublet of descent.

(military) A member of the Russian Airborne Troops.


saddle carbine

(firearms) a short carbine intended for use on horseback, typically with a very short barrel and a saddle ring.


gun sock

(firearms) A long tubular cloth covering, sealed at one end, used to provide basic protection for a firearm.


bore sight

(firearms) An optical device, mounted on or near the end of a firearm's barrel, used to align the sights with the bore.

(firearms) A dummy cartridge containing a small battery-operated laser, used to align the sights.


bore sight

en-verb

bore sight (third-person singular simple present bore sights, present participle bore sighting, simple past and past participle bore sighted)

bore sights (present singular third-person)
bore sighting (participle present)
bore sighted (participle past)
bore sighted (past)

(firearms) To align the sights and aiming point of a firearm using a bore sight optical tool.


vest buster

Yet, according to data published by the company, the gun press, and the federal government, it appears that the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum is plainly capable of defeating the highest level of police body armor worn in all but SWAT-type situations. It is a vest buster.

2004, Violence Policy Center, Vest Buster: The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum—The Gun Industry’s Latest Challenge to Law Enforcement Body Armor:

Joby nodded, “I'll wait,” and offered his support—two live rounds of 9mm Black Talon ammunition. “Vest busters,” in case the cops harassed him.

2008, Kerrie Droban, Running with the Devil: The True Story of the ATF's Infiltration of the Hells Angels, page 121:

for, among other things, improving regulations to combat “straw purchases,” better regulating how weapons that are particularly attractive to criminal groups (such as “vest-buster” […]

2011, Clare Ribando Seelke, “Merida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: Funding and Policy Issues”, in Current Politics and Economics of the United States, Canada and Mexico, volume 13, number 4:

A related design and marketing innovation has been the sale to civilians of “vest busters,” handguns specifically designed to penetrate body armor.

2013, Tom Diaz, The Last Gun: How Changes in the Gun Industry are Killing Americans and what it Will Take to Stop it, page 166:

After the vest-buster big boomers came out and appeared on the scene in Seattle, Jax bought the forty-four.

2016, Melanie Thompson, The Virgin Shifter:

(firearms) A handgun or cartridge that can fully penetrate a contemporary bulletproof vest.


taijiquan

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 太極拳／太极拳 (tàijíquán).

zh-l

太極拳／太极拳 (tàijíquán)

Chinese martial arts have existed for well over 3,000 years. Wrestling and swordsmanship both have a long history, as do Chinese Internal Alchemy and breathing methods. These disparate elements, married by Yin Yang theory, became what we now call Tai Chi Chuan.

[2009, Dan Docherty, Tai Chi Chuan: Decoding the Classics for the Modern Martial Artist, Crowood Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 11:


ARPA

Advanced Research Projects Agency
w:Advanced Research Projects Agency

(military, US, historical) Acronym of Advanced Research Projects Agency, renamed to DARPA in 1972.


ARPANET

ARPANET (canonical)
the ARPANET (canonical)
ARPAnet (alternative)

/ˈɑɹ.pəˌnɛt/

From earlier ARPA (“Advanced Research Projects Agency”) with net for network.

ARPANET went online in September, 1969, and connected four computers located in California and Utah.

2001, Bryan Pfaffenberger, Computers in Your Future, Pearson College Division, →ISBN, page 267:

The ARPANET was especially important to the Internet project, and was often called the backbone network because it was the central WAN that tied researchers together.

2007, Douglas Comer, The Internet Book […] , Prentice Hall, →ISBN:

It allowed the ARPANET, a single network, to develop into the Internet—an internetwork of hundreds of thousands of networks.

2009, John Cassidy, Dot.Con […] , Harper Collins, →ISBN, page 17:

w:Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

(military, networking) Initialism of Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (the world's first operational packet-switching network)


MoD

(military, by extension) Abbreviation of ministry of defence. (not restricted to the British Ministry of War)


DMR

designated marksman rifle
designated marksman rifle#English

(military, US) Abbreviation of designated marksman rifle.


order of battle

en-noun

order of battle (plural orders of battle)

orders of battle (plural)
battle order (alternative)

Working for the Resistance, Challe, a regular airman, had skilfully obtained the Luftwaffe order-of-battle on the eve of D-Day and transmitted it to London, for which he was awarded the British D.S.O.

1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 311:

(military) The arrangement of units or other divisions of the armed forces in combat; specifically, the deployment plans of an enemy, or a written record of this.


shitbird

Marines work hard. Only shitbirds try to avoid work, only shitbirds try to skate. Marines are clean, not skuzzy. I teach Leonard to value his rifle as he values his life. I teach him that blood makes the grass grow.

1979, Gustav Hasford, “The Spirit of the Bayonet”, in The Short-Timers, archived from the original on 2011-01-31:

'Cause you do not get to win, shitbird. We do!

2004 September 19, David Simon, “Time After Time” (11:43 from the start), in The Wire, season 3, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam), via HBO:

The blond prick and his two shitbirds were never far away, but they eventually gave up and walked back to the barracks.

2009, Jason Christopher Hartley, Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq:

(slang, vulgar, derogatory, military) An objectionable, despicable person.


OFC

(military, law enforcement) Abbreviation of officer.


artillerywoman

Her ordinary attire, she said, was in the way for an artillerywoman, and she asked permission to wear the male garb.

1871, Thomas Gibson Bowles, The Defence of Paris: Narrated as it was Seen, page 53:

(military) A female soldier who uses artillery.


gun line

The guidon-bearer was placed by the battery commander to mark the right of the gun line, with the gun platoon aligned to his left.

1998, Curt Johnson, Richard Claire Anderson, chapter 1, in Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam, →ISBN, page 28:

As soon as Lee reaches the Command Post, Matthew directs him forward to the gun line where the crews are preparing the Light Guns.

2013 March, “The Firepower Behind the Army”, in Army Life: Your guide to the Royal Artillery, UK MoD, page 9:

The executive at the gun line is responsible for the drill and fire discipline of the battery.

1917 July 1, Army War College, “Third British Army, Artillery Instructions, No. 3 Notes on the Organization of a Battery for Active Operations”, in Field Artillery Notes, number 4, page 53:

A mountain battery is divided into a "Gun Line" and an "Ammunition Line." Six guns and twelve ammunition-mules form the "Gun Line."

1916 June 10, “The Mountain Gun and Mule Team”, in Scientific American: Supplement, volume 81, number 2110, page 372:

(military) the tactical firing position of artillery or naval guns


dead ground

(military) an area of ground hidden from an observer due to undulations in the land


Red Army

Calque of Russian Красная Армия (Krasnaja Armija). The red was the traditional color of the communist movement which was the official ideology of the Soviets at the period.

calque

Красная Армия

(historical, military) Name of the Soviet army in the period 1918–1946.

(historical, informal, military) The Soviet Armed Forces.

If Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could order his troops into his neighbor with impunity, surely China’s President Xi Jinping might finally decide to recover Taiwan, the island province that has remained staunchly independent ever since Mao Zedong’s Red Army finished his conquest of the mainland in 1949.

2022 August 30, Donald Kirk, “Could China invade South Korea after Taiwan?”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 2022-08-30:

(historical, military) The Chinese Red Army.

(informal, military) The Russian Armed Forces, especially the Ground Forces component.


BLUF

(chiefly US military) Acronym of bottom line up front: used to indicate a set of conclusions and recommendations at the beginning of some text, in order to facilitate rapid decision-making.


halfcock

half cock (alternative)
half-cock (alternative)

This was bad both for the alibi reshoots it caused and subsequent delays in a match, but if the hammer fell to halfcock enough times, the half-cock notch would mar the sear tip, adversely affecting trigger pull.

2010, Patrick Sweeney, 1911 The First 100 Years: The First 100 Years:

(firearms) The position when the cock of a gun is at the first notch.


halfcock

en-verb

halfcock (third-person singular simple present halfcocks, present participle halfcocking, simple past and past participle halfcocked)

halfcocks (present singular third-person)
halfcocking (participle present)
halfcocked (participle past)
halfcocked (past)
half cock (alternative)
half-cock (alternative)

(firearms) To set the cock of a firearm at the first notch.


forward line

(military) The soldiers in the furthest forward position in an army.


sweepable

(military) Of a mine: capable of being located by minesweeping


debus

debus (third-person singular simple present debusses, present participle debussing, simple past and past participle debussed)

debusses (present singular third-person)
debussing (participle present)
debussed (participle past)
debussed (past)

1990, K C Paval, "Indian Army After Independence", New Delhi: Lancer.
The leading battalion […] arrived in the vicinity of Kushtia around 1400 hours and debussed.


FAETUPAC

The US Navy loves acronyms, and sometimes creates lip-curlers like FAETUPAC – Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit Pacific, our host for the day.

1962, unknown author, Flight International, volume 82, IPC Transport Press Limited, page 523:

As the testing continued throughout 1947 and 1948, the operational use of TBM-3Ws was accomplished through the Fleet Aviation Electronic Training Units (Atlantic-FAETULANT and Pacific-FAETUPAC).

2002, Edwin Leigh Armistead, AWACS and Hawkeyes: The Complete History of Airborne Early Warning Aircraft, MBI Publishing Company, chapter 1 “The Development of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Aircraft”, page 13

(US, military) Acronym of Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit (Pacific) Squadron.


slop shoot

slop shoots (plural)
slop chute (alternative)
slop-shoot (alternative)
slopshoot (alternative)

Meet me at the slopshoot
On the old Wangpoo
Bring along your dipnet
There's enough for two.
We'll have mashed potatoes
And some Navy stew
Meet me at the slopshoot

1955, FAETUPAC Songbook, song 37 “Meet Me at the Slopshoot” (scan)

The combined club system. I know years ago when I first came in the Marine Corps, I could go down to the slop shoot—that is what we referred to them as in those days; buy a drink for 10 cents; staff sergeants, 15 cents; officers, 20 cents.

1981, testimony of Sergeant Major Crawford, Military Construction Appropriations for 1982: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, First Session, page 443

Ernie Yost: We were in a forty knot gale. The ship was like a roller coaster, up one wave, down the next, and me and Wade were leaning over the railing puking, like we had spent the weekend liberty at the slop shoot.

2004, November 23, Roger Director, NCIS, season 2, episode 7 “Call of Silence”

“I have an announcement to make. After tonight’s dance, there will be free beer for all Marines in the slop-shoot.” The slop-shoot is a Marine nickname for the enlisted men’s club. … Some of the Marines had convinced a few of the gals to head to the slop-shoot with them. I hung around for a half hour until the tug of the 3.2 beer dragged me in the direction of the slop-shoot. Off I went.

2011, John Hornung, Private 1543868, chapter “November 10. We are Going to Celebrate!”

We would get a one-page typed reply, and we would go to the slop-shoot and editorialize over several cans of beer.

2012, Thomas L. Little, A Lonesome Warrior, chapter 7 “Liberty Call”

(US, military) A drinking establishment for US Marines.


bograt

(Australia, New Zealand, military, humorous, derogatory) A junior fighter pilot.


infantrywoman

From infantry + woman. Modeled after infantryman.

(military) A female member of an infantry


RFS

Coordinate term: HIRMS

Russian Federation Ship
Russian Federation Ship#English

(nautical, military, US, unofficial, exonym) Initialism of Russian Federation Ship. (a commissioned warship of the Russian navy.)


Maj.

(military, chiefly as a prenominal title) Abbreviation of major.


zoomie

Most of the zoomies in the audience are clean-shaven office poges who never go into the field.

1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 39:

Then it's purely a coincidence that the last two zoomies to arrive here got assigned to Vung Tau, while every ROTC grad in the last month has been sent to god-awful Army camps, right?

2006, Rocky Raab, Baggy Zero Four, page 9:

The BX was huge, and the quality of the stuff was better than that of the Fort McClellan PX even though zoomies made the same amount of money that we did.

2007, John Sheppard, Tales of the Peacetime Army:

A zipper head (an air force zoomie with his hair parted in the middle) walked up to me.

2008, Rob Krott, Save the Last Bullet for Yourself, page 89:

(military slang) A graduate of, or student at, the United States Air Force Academy, USAFA.


rifle pit

(military) A trench dug to shelter riflemen.


point d'appui

From French point d'appui (“point of support”).

bor

1795, Rules and Regulations for the Cavalry, Adjutant General's Office, page 364,
Marched from the left, and to deployer to the left.—In which caſe the right squadron moves ſtreight forward to the point d'appui marked by the Quarter Maſter, &c. &c.

The attacking artillery, firing at a point d'appui at long range, cannot be said to be immobilized, because it has the power of diverting its fire to neighbouring points d'appui;[…].

1911, The Royal Engineers Journal, page 122:

(military) A given point or body upon which troops are formed, or by which they are marched in line or column.

1989, Daniel Berthold-Bond, Hegel's Grand Synthesis: A Study of Being, Thought, and History, State University of New York Press, page 40,
Its intention and its method is to "stand back from natural objects, leaving them as they are and adjusting ourselves to them," and its point d'appui and point de depart is sense experience (PhN §246 Zusatz).

If, on the other hand, the points d'appui are in regions of longitudinal muscle contraction so that the fixed body regions are at their shortest, the animal will move in the opposite direction to the wave, the wave is said to be retrograde.

2009, R. S. K. Barnes, Peter P. Calow, P. J. W. Olive, D. W. Golding, J. I. Spicer, The Invertebrates: A Synthesis, Wiley, page 252:

(military) An advantageous defensive support; a foothold.


drumhead court-martial

en-noun

drumhead court-martial (plural drumhead court-martials)

drumhead court-martials (plural)
drum-head court (alternative)

Perhaps because a drumhead had to be used as a meeting point or an improvised writing table.

So of course the citizen was only waiting for the wink of the word and he starts gassing out of him about the invincibles and the old guard and the men of sixtyseven and who fears to speak of ninetyeight and Joe with him about all the fellows that were hanged, drawn and transported for the cause by drumhead courtmartial and a new Ireland and new this, that and the other.

1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Between the summer of 1906 and the beginning of 1907, Prime Minister Stolypin used the powers which the Emergency Laws gave him to have more than one thousand terrorists sentenced to death by drumhead courts martial (voennye polevye sudy).

2006, Jorg Baberowski, “Law, the judicial system and the legal profession”, in Dominic Lieven, editor, The Cambridge History of Russia, volume 2, Cambridge University Press, page 366:

See also citations under drum-head court.

(military) A court-martial held in the field to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action.


gunner's daughter

(archaic, idiomatic, navy) The gun to which sailors were tied to be flogged.


(military, US) Abbreviation of command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.


CEP

The Circular Error Probable (CEPs) of SLBMs and SLCMs ought thus to be deliberately kept above the 'Hard Target Kill' (HTK) level.

1989, Marlies ter Borg-Neervoort, Wim Smit, Non-provocative Defence as a Principle of Arms Reduction:

circular error probable
w:circular error probable

(ballistics) An initialism of three synonymous phrases, namely:

circular error probability
w:circular error probable

Initialism of circular error probability.

circle of equal probability
w:circular error probable

Initialism of circle of equal probability.


undress parade

(military, archaic) A substitute for dress parade in bad weather, the companies forming without arms, and the ceremony being shortened.


minenwerfer

minenwerfer (plural minenwerfers or minenwerfer)

minenwerfers (plural)
minenwerfer (plural)
minnenwerfer (alternative)

From German Minenwerfer, from Mine + Werfer (“mortar”).

Something landed outside that shook the earth. ‘Four hundred twenty or minnenwerfer,’ Gavuzzi said.

1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 59:

(military, now historical) A type of trench mortar used by German forces especially during the First World War, or the shells fired by such a mortar.


clearing station

clearing station (plural clearing stations)

‘The orders are that we stay here. You clear the wounded from here to the clearing station.’

1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 181:

(military) A temporary field hospital to treat and classify the sick and wounded.


monkey meat

‘You'd better get some sleep,’ I said. ‘We can eat cheese and monkey-meat.’

1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 184:


present arms

(military) A position of salute in the manual of arms in which the gun is held in both hands vertically in front of the body, with the muzzle upward and the trigger side forward.


present arms

en-verb

present arms (third-person singular simple present presents arms, present participle presenting arms, simple past and past participle presented arms)

presents arms (present singular third-person)
presenting arms (participle present)
presented arms (participle past)
presented arms (past)


numbers station

en-noun

numbers station (plural numbers stations)

The most common numbers station features a young lady reading the numbers in Spanish. Other stations have both male and female voices reading numbers in Spanish, German, English and Chinese. So far, nobody has been able to decode any of the messages!

October 1986, William O'Connell, “Get On The Air”, in Boys' Life, volume 76, number 10, page 35:

Naturally enough, no government has actually admitted to operating a numbers station, but the suspicion is there.

2012, Ripley's Believe It Or Not! (compiler), Ripley's Unbelievable Stories For Guys:

(radio, espionage) A shortwave radio station characterized by unusual broadcasts, often of artificially generated voices reciting streams of numbers, words, etc., supposedly of coded messages.


save by the bell

en-verb

save by the bell (third-person singular simple present saves by the bell, present participle saving by the bell, simple past and past participle saved by the bell)

saves by the bell (present singular third-person)
saving by the bell (participle present)
saved by the bell (participle past)
saved by the bell (past)

With 35 seconds left in the fight, the Siberian Rocky landed a lethal right hook that staggered Bradley and forced him to take a knee following a few more hard blows, thus saving Bradley by the bell.

2013 December 30, “Behind The Gloves 2013 Picks!”, in behindthegloves.com, retrieved 2014-01-22:

(transitive, boxing, wrestling) In a boxing or wrestling match or similar competition, to ring the bell which concludes the round and thereby to prevent a competitor who has been knocked down from being counted out by the referee.


saved by the bell

Forrest floored Mosley again at the end of the round and almost finished him, but Mosley was saved by the bell.

2002 July 19, Damon Hack, “Boxing: Despite Not Having the Title, Mosley Garners Attention”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-01-06:

(boxing, wrestling, of a competitor) In a boxing or wrestling match or similar competition, spared from being counted out by the referee by the ringing of the bell which concludes the round.


horse soldier

horse soldiers (plural)
horse-soldier (alternative)
horsesoldier (alternative)

(military) An army member who fights horseback; a cavalry or cavalier.


poacher's gun

(firearms) A small-bore shotgun hidden in a walking cane.


general staff

Meronyms: staff officer, chief of staff

(military) A group of officers in charge of an army under the control of the commander-in-chief.


command post

The kett flagship, Verakan, is a heavily armed warship that serves as the Archon's central command post for the kett incursion into the Heleus Cluster.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: The Verakan Codex entry:

(military) The headquarters of a given unit; the operational base of a unit's commanding officer.

指揮所 /指挥所

headquarters of unit or commanding officer


ZDF

Zimbabwe Defence Forces
w:Zimbabwe Defence Forces

(Zimbabwe, military) Initialism of Zimbabwe Defence Forces.


politruk

Borrowed from Russian политру́к (politrúk).

bor+

(communism, military) A supervisory political officer responsible for ideological education and organization; political commissar


basic pay

(US, military) The monthly pay granted to members of the active-duty military, determined by pay grade.


EM

en-noun

EM (countable and uncountable, plural EMs)


pipper

(military, slang) A marker indicating the PIP (predicted impact point) on a head-up display.


pipper

Our caricaturist, Lieutenant Fred May, has this week specialised in “three pippers,” as all of the officers in the above collection, have attained to captain's rank, and have all, so we understand, been “through it" […]

(military, slang, in combination) A person wearing the specific number of stars on the shoulder of their uniform, implying a particular rank.


quarter-bloke

‘A private is ordered to complete some deficiency in his kit, and he goes to the quarter-bloke for it and gets nothing but abuse for his trouble.’

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 128:

quartermaster sergeant
quartermaster sergeant

(UK military slang, now rare) A quartermaster, or quartermaster sergeant.


fire trench

fire trenches (plural)
firetrench (alternative)

One night in particular the front line was stubbornly pounded with minenwerfers (it was a ‘minnywafer’ sector, and one often turned cold in the firetrench as one heard the approaching swish of these monsters).

1928, Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, Penguin, published 2010, page 79:

Just before they reached the fire-trenches they stood aside to allow a stretcher-party carrying down a man to pass.

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 218:

(military) A deep trench from which one can fire on the enemy.


fire bay

Presently Corporal Hamley motioned him forward into the next fire-bay.

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 219:

In the third fire bay he found Sawdon and Towers crouched down over a small fire made out of shredded sandbags and candle ends, coaxing the flames.

1991, Pat Barker, Regeneration (The Regeneration Trilogy), Penguin, published 2014, page 138:

(military) A trench, or section of a trench, with a concealed parapet from which soldiers can fire on the enemy.


draw weight

draw weights (plural)
drawweight (alternative)

The enormous draw weight of the English longbow required archers to train from a very young age to be capable of using it.

She figured her bow had only a forty-pound draw weight, but it was enough.

2021, Rivers Solomon, Sorrowland, #Merky Books, page 27:

(archery) The force (weight) required to draw a bow to its fully-cocked position.


funk hole

Major Whittlesey came out of his funk hole, and went among the men, spreading the cheering words.

1919, Americans Defending Democracy: Our Soldiers' Own Stories, World's War Stories Inc., p332 from the Story of the Lost Battalion

The cellar was comfortably furnished as it had apparently been used as a funk-hole before, and by people of more importance than its present occupants.

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 237:

If you could reach your funk-hole, and crouch in it, there was a fair chance of your coming out of it alive next day to run the gauntlet of the Bapaume Road again.

1965, Charles Carrington, Soldier From the Wars Returning:

All along the trench men were crawling out of funk holes.

(military slang) A concealed place where one can hide in safety, especially during a war; a dugout.


PGS

prompt global strike
prompt global strike#English

(US, military) Initialism of prompt global strike.


saddletank

saddletanks (plural)
saddle tank (alternative)

(naval architecture) An early style of ballast tank submarine in which the tank sits on top like a saddle.


selective fire

(firearms) The ability to choose whether a weapon fires automatically or semi-automatically.


reverse arms

[…] it is recorded that at the funeral for Marlborough in 1722, the troops carried out a formal reverse arms drill which was especially invented for the service; it was a unique sign of respect to the great soldier.

2009, Christopher Jobson, Looking Forward Looking Back:

(military) A position of a soldier in which the weapon passes between the right elbow and the body at an angle of 45°.


backbore

en-verb

backbore (third-person singular simple present backbores, present participle backboring, simple past and past participle backbored)

backbores (present singular third-person)
backboring (participle present)
backbored (participle past)
backbored (past)

(firearms, transitive) To modify (a weapon's barrel) so as to increase the bore diameter.


gundeck

gundeck (third-person singular simple present gundecks, present participle gundecking, simple past and past participle gundecked)

gundecks (present singular third-person)
gundecking (participle present)
gundecked (participle past)
gundecked (past)

(naval slang) Synonym of pencil whip (“to falsify records to suggest that work has been done”)


foregrip

(firearms) A pistol grip-type forestock on the front of a firearm that improves handling characteristics, counters the effects of recoil, and is cooler to the touch than a standard forestock.


forestock

karera

part of a firearm under and supporting the barrel


counterfire

en-noun

counterfire (countable and uncountable, plural counterfires)

The Nationalist Defense Ministry claimed Communist guns on the mainland coast were silenced by effective counterfire. By Nationalist count, the Reds fired 444 shells, of which 162 hit Matsu Island, 112 Peikantang Island and 170 landed in the sea.

1959 May 18, “Red Chinese Open Firing on Matsus”, in The Washington Post and Times Herald, volume 82, number 164, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, column 5:

The second attack vehicle had difficulty navigating around the debris from the first attack, and was met with defensive counterfire by security personnel assigned to the hotel.

2007, John W. Ellis, Police Analysis and Planning for Homicide Bombings, page 171:

(military, uncountable) The firing of weapons in response.


airwar

(military) A war fought predominantly by aircraft.


fireteam

My fireteams are spread thin. We can't hold out forever.

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

(US, military) A small unit of infantry.


wagonmaster

wagonmasters (plural)
wagon-master (alternative)
wagon master (alternative)

(by extenstion, military) A military transport officer

(military, by extension) A military logistics officer


fart sack

Don't forget your fart sack!

(military, slang, vulgar) A sleeping bag (especially a heavily-insulated bag).


taekwondoka

< taekwondo, formed according to the pattern of judoka and karateka. Consists of the Korean word 태권도 (taegwondo) and the Japanese word 家.

(martial arts) A person who is skilled in taekwondo; a practitioner of taekwondo.


false flag

false flags (plural)
false-flag (alternative)

Using what the bureau calls a "False Flag" operation, F.B.I. agents posing as Russian intelligence officers contacted Mr. Pitts in August 1995, long after it believed he had ceased his spying activities, and feigned interest in reactivating him as a means of confirming his spying activities and determining how much information he may have provided to Moscow.

1996 December, David Johnston, “F.B.I. Supervisor Charged With Spying for Russians”, in The New York Times:

Now, that is not just offensive, it’s stupid. If the government had actually hired child actors, there is no way their stage parents would have stopped talking about it. “Well, he didn’t get the Tide commercial, but he did book a leading role in a government-sponsored false-flag attack! It’s the same director who did the moon landing! We’re very excited!”

2017, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Julie Weiner, “Trump vs. Truth”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 1, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

The US has made noncommittal statements so far. Meanwhile, many experts on Russia have raised the possibility that the strike could have been a false-flag operation from Moscow.

2023 May 4, Jonathan Yerushalmy, Pjotr Sauer, “False flag or genuine attack? What we know about the Kremlin drone incident”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(espionage, military, politics) A diversionary or propaganda tactic of deceiving an adversary into thinking that an operation was carried out by another party.


goatfuck

goatfucks (plural)
goat fuck (alternative)
goat-fuck (alternative)

From goat + fuck, possibly as a blend of goat rope and clusterfuck.

"What a goatfuck," I said.

"Well, sir—frankly, Admiral, everything up to now has been a real goatfuck, so far as SpecWar's been concerned. [...]"

[...] visiting Young Republicans, who learned their manners in frat houses and who would surely be shitfaced and creating a scene—what Bush Advance was pleased to call "a real goat fuck"—but Advance knew, if Lindsay got to the rope line and asked the President elect to stop by, Bush would never say no to a friend, so then they'd have the Free World's Leaders-to-be in a YR goat fuck, [...]

1992, William S. Burroughs, Esquire, volume 117, page 88:

He killed two other men a couple of days before and those two did happen to be ours. Along with the three at that colossal goatfuck a few days before that. All right?

2005, Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men:

"[...] Do you guys rehearse these goatfucks, or are you just that clumsy by nature?"

2006, Hal von Luebbert, Letters to Aaron-the Hal Luebbert Story: America and Its Freedom Myths, page 258:

"With all due respect, sir," Shibli said, "your operation at Site Tango had all the finesse of a goat-fuck. [...] "

2009, Paul Brooks, Shibli: An Odyssey of Terror, page 95:

"[...] I'm square in the middle of a goatfuck here."

2011, Mary Margret Daughtridge, SEALed Bundle: SEALed Bundle: SEALed with a Kiss, SEALed with a Promise, and SEALed with a Ring:

Lacking that ability to just walk into this goatfuck, because that's exactly what this was. Mondy and Wanstall looked like they were at a little girl's birthday party, and wouldn't look otherwise until it truly became a goatfuck, never mind that anyone with eyes could see it coming.

In the midst of this goatfuck, the FedEx truck pulled up on the far side of the road and parked about three hundred yards from the main gate.

2012, Richard Marcinko, Detachment Bravo:

She didn't trust tender feelings as they always seemed to lead people to make unwise decisions. Exhibit A, her parents and their goatfuck of a marriage.

(slang, chiefly military, vulgar) A chaotic situation where some effort has gone thoroughly wrong; a fiasco or clusterfuck.


antivehicle

an antivehicle mine


antisabotage

(chiefly military) Preventing or countering sabotage.


antishipping

[…] and passed an antishipping liquor law which prohibits the carrying or shipping of liquors for beverage purposes […]

1927, Ernest Hurst Cherrington, The Anti-saloon League Year Book, page 99:

The Luftwaffe also conducted antishipping offensive operations, which ranged over vast areas, from France to far out over the Atlantic in great operational arcs emanating from Germany and Norway.

2012, Walter J. Boyne, Clash of Wings: World War II in the Air:


antidefense

The Soviet Union has already indicated that it may respond to deployment of a ballistic-missile defense system by deploying antidefense weapons, such as space mines to trail defense satellites.

1986 December, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, volume 42, number 10, page 52:


antihandling

A certain percentage of the mines are equipped with an antihandling device to hinder manual breaching.

1979, United States. Dept. of the Army, Engineer Combat Operations:


dredging box

To render the fuzes of mortar shell more certain of taking fire, meal powder was sprinkled over them, after the shell had been placed in the mortar, from a dredging box.

2013, Francis A. Lord, Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia:

(military, historical) A copper box with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling meal powder over shell fuses.


rebounding lock

rebounding lock (plural rebounding locks)

(firearms) A lock in which the hammer rebounds to half cock after striking the cap or primer.


body blow

body blows (plural)
body-blow (alternative)

He led at Berks's head, as he came rushing in, and missed him, receiving a severe body blow in return.

1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 11, in Rodney Stone:

A severely injurious or damaging physical strike or impact.

(boxing) A hard punch struck to the torso.


stand fire

en-verb

stand fire (third-person singular simple present stands fire, present participle standing fire, simple past and past participle stood fire)

stands fire (present singular third-person)
standing fire (participle present)
stood fire (participle past)
stood fire (past)

They were again under fire at Vaal Krantz, the shells dropping a few yards in front of them as the bearers removed the men. Hospital orderlies, water-carriers, nurses, bearers, all were willing to do or be anything in this dire need; and although not infrequently obliged to accept insults or to stand fire, they acquitted themselves with great credit, and earned the unstinted praise of the soldiers.

1909, Joseph John Doke, M. K. Gandhi: Indian Patriot in South Africa, Chapter 13:

It is perfectly possible to take a thousand individuals, each of whom is individually fearless, form them hastily into a regiment, and collectively they will not stand fire. A thousand individual heroes may easily make one collective regimental coward. Such is the incomprehensible psychology of the mob.

1917, Harris Dickson, s:The Unpopular History of the United States by Uncle Sam Himself, Chapter 14:

(idiomatic, military) To put oneself in the way of an enemy's firing.


forge wagon

(military, historical) A wagon fitted up for transporting a blackmith's forge and tools.


foragemaster

(military, historical) Somebody responsible for providing and transporting forage for animals.


light ball

(military, historical) A ball of combustible materials, used to provide light, and sometimes made so as to fired from a cannon or mortar, or to be carried up by a rocket.


light barrel

(military, historical) An empty powder barrel pierced with holes and filled with shavings soaked in pitch, used to light up a ditch or a breach.


ramshorn

(fortifications) A low semicircular work situated in and commanding a ditch.


manual exercise

en-noun

manual exercise (plural manual exercises)

A little clump of soldiers stood upon the poop going through the manual exercise, and it was from them that the call had come which had sounded so unexpectedly in the ears of the castaways.

1893, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, chapter XXVII, in The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:

The officers of the Voulnteers will do their utmost to assist the naval officers to preserve discipline. They may, if they think fit, set an example to their men by taking an active part in all the duties and manual exercises. They may fall in at quarters, and take any number at the gun. In short, they may become, as much as they please, active working seamen and efficient practical gunners.

1874, Thomas Brassey, The organisation of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers explained:

(military, historical) The military exercise by which soldiers are taught the use of their muskets and other arms.


niru

(military, historical) A company within the military of the Qing dynasty.


step short

en-verb

step short (third-person singular simple present steps short, present participle stepping short, simple past and past participle stepped short)

steps short (present singular third-person)
stepping short (participle present)
stepped short (participle past)
stepped short (past)

(military) To diminish the length or rapidity of the step according to the established rules.


blind shell

(military) A shell containing no charge, or one that does not explode.


MOH

(military, US) Initialism of Medal of Honor.


auger in

auger in (third-person singular simple present augers in, present participle augering in, simple past and past participle augered in)

augers in (present singular third-person)
augering in (participle present)
augered in (participle past)
augered in (past)

auger + in: the plane is metaphorically drilling into the ground.

The pilot lost pitch control and the jet augered in.

(military, aviation, euphemistic) To crash catastrophically into the ground.


star fort

(fortifications) A fort surrounded on the exterior with projecting angles.


antisonar

an antisonar coating

(military) Preventing detection by sonar.


lady paramount

en-noun

lady paramount (plural ladies paramount)

(archery) The lady who achieves the best score in archery.


draught hook

(military, historical) One of the hooks on a cannon carriage, used in drawing the gun backward and forward.


tower bastion

(fortifications) A bastion of masonry, often with chambers beneath it, built at an angle of the interior polygon of some works.


stub twist

(firearms) Material for a gun barrel, made of a spirally welded ribbon of steel and stub iron combined.


proof charge

Thus the proof-shot with proof-charge may in reality be proving the gun less faithfully than its first service-charge and service-shot,—a mode of proof-practice for heavy artillery very different from that imposed for safety on every fowling-piece.

1862, Edward Pellew Halsted, The Armstrong Gun. A Rejoinder to the Letter of Sir W. Armstrong, page 37:

The late Ordnance Select Committee therefore, after having obtained particulars of proof of guns in nearly all theother countries in Europe, came to the conclusion that the proof should be based on the highest charge which the gun will fire on service, and recommended the following proof which was approved in July 1864 and remains still in force, viz., two rounds of 1 1/4 the highest service (battering) charge, and service projectiles; but, in consequence of the results obtained in recent trials with Pebblepowder, experiments are being carried on to determine the future proof charge.

1872, Francis Sadleir Stoney, Charles Jones, A Text-book of the Construction and Manufacture of the Rifled Ordnance in the British Service, page 112:

Amd. the official "Extracts of Artillery Proceedings" tell us, 4:3:72, tha the Superintendent, Royal Gun Factories, "proposes tha the proof charge for the 12-inch gun of 35-tons shall be 115 lbs.

1873, W. Dawson, “Powder Pressures in the First 35-Ton Gun”, in Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, volume 17, number 70, page 4:

In case barrels sent for proof for the use of nitro powders are intended by the senders to sheet charges of powder or shot greater than the ordinary service charges of the like respective bores set forth in Scale 6, in the said Schedule, then the quantities of powder and shot so intended to be used shall be declared in wwriting, and a proof charge proportionate thereto shall be used.

(firearms) A charge of powder and ball, greater than the service charge, fired in an arm, as a gun or cannon, to test its strength.


outflanker

(military) One who is positioned so as to outflank the enemy in combat.


interior crest

(fortifications) The highest line of the parapet.


pass box

(military, historical) A box used to carry cartridges from the service magazine to the piece.


bar shot

Bar shot and chain shot were primarily used during sea battles to destroy the sails and rigging of enemy vessels. The first mention of bar shot was by the Dutch in 1819.

1987 January 1, Robert F. Marx, Shipwrecks in the Americas, Courier Corporation, →ISBN, page 104:

(military, historical) A double-headed shot, consisting of a bar, with a ball or half ball at each end; formerly used for destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat.


ranger file

(military) Single file with a short distance between the soldiers.


bunker buster

(military) A bomb designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground.

地中貫通爆弾

ちちゅうかんつうばくだん


blue falcon

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

From the same initial letters as "buddy-fucker."

We had a term in the military for a soldier who was not a good Battle Buddy. He was a "Blue Falcon." That rather odd name is an attempt to clean up a much more graphic term. The initials for Blue Falcon, "BF", were originally the first letters of a term I'll refrain from printing here. Let's just say that the "B" stood for "Buddy" and the "F" stood for a classic word of profanity. A BF was someone who screwed his buddies. We just called them Blue Falcons.

2013, Jeff Rose, Soldier of Finance: Take Charge of Your Money and Invest in Your Future, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, →ISBN, page 26:

To them, he's a Blue Falcon, a derogatory euphemism for "buddy-fucker." Blue Falcons are great soldiers when the commander's watching. But they'll screw you in a heartbeat when nobody else is around.

2007, David Axe, Army 101: Inside ROTC in a Time of War, Univ of South Carolina Press, page 31:

(US, military, euphemistic) A supposed comrade whose actions harm his friends, often but not always, for his own benefit.


Alleyman

From French Allemand (“a German”), with alteration after alley, man.

Take me over the sea, where the Alleyman can't get at me. Oh my, I don't want to die, I want to go home.

In the trenches the men of both races shared their cigarettes and rum rations, and exchanged the most impossible yarns of what they had done, or would do, to the 'Alleyman!'

1941, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 250, page 220:

"Why don't the naval guns fire back?"
"They only fire when the Alleyman attacks, mate."

1954, Henry Williamson, How Dear is Life, page 239:

(military slang, now historical) A German, especially during the First World War.


shock and awe

/ˈʃɒk(ə)nd ˈɔː/

Coined by American defence strategists Harlan Kenneth Ullman (born 1941) and James P. Wade, Jr., in Shock and Awe (1996): see the quotation. The term gained greater public attention during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by US troops.

To affect the will of the adversary, Rapid Dominance will apply a variety of approaches and techniques to achieve the necessary level of Shock and Awe at the appropriate strategic and military leverage points. […] Flowing from the primary concentration on affecting the adversary's will to resist through imposing a regime of Shock and Awe to achieve strategic aims and military objectives, four characteristics emerge that will define the Rapid Dominance military force.

1996, Harlan K[enneth] Ullman, James P. Wade [et al.], “Prologue”, in Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance, [Washington, D.C.]: Center for Advanced Concepts and Technology, →ISBN, archived from the original on 2017-08-29, page xii:

WWE and WCW gussied up the ritual with a lot of shock-and-awe pyrotechnics and the most innovative use of video graphics this side of MTV. Not so Extreme Championship Wrestling.

2006, Thomas Hackett, Slaphappy: Pride, Prejudice, and Professional Wrestling, New York, NY: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 22:

The shock and awe that a human being could inspire navigating a stage with such effortless yet almost supernatural command (not for nothing did legends Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly congratulate Michael [Jackson] on his dancing) vaulted Jackson and Thriller to a new level of prominence.

2008 February 15, Ken Tucker, “‘Thriller’: Can’t Beat It”, in Entertainment Weekly, archived from the original on 2015-11-23:

Photos, film, documentation of the city [Hiroshima, Japan] had been confiscated and censored almost immediately after Japan surrendered, and the only indelible image of the bombing was the power of the bomb itself: the "shock and awe" version of the mushroom cloud.

2010 August 5, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, “Hiroshima: The Lesson We Never Learned”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 2010-12-24:

One expression above all others has become associated with the invasion of Iraq – "shock and awe". Developed at the Pentagon in the mid-1990s, "shock and awe" was a doctrine designed to leave the enemy so demoralised and disoriented that its will to resist crumbled. In popular parlance it has come to mean the application of overwhelming force, the effective obliteration of the enemy, and for many the term "shock and awe" has come to epitomise the crudeness of the American assault on Iraq.

2013 March 19, Richard Sanders, “The myth of ‘shock and awe’: Why the Iraqi invasion was a disaster”, in The Daily Telegraph, London, archived from the original on 2017-10-10:

In defense of moderation, he proposed simply stomping out religious radicals. (In American terms: shock and awe, rather than hearts and minds.)

2018 November 3, Hassan Hassan, “The Arab Winter Is Coming”, in The Atlantic:

[The surveillance capitalists] specialize in displays of instrumentarianism’s unique brand of shock and awe, leaving onlookers dazed, uncertain, and helpless.

2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 14, in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:

“This is ‘shock and awe,’” he said. “Truss, Kwarteng, and the people around them think they had to act quickly. The longer they wait, the more the resistance will build up.”.

2022 September 27, Mark Landler, quoting Jonathan Portes, “Truss Takes a Bold Economic Gamble. Will It Sink Her Government?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, also figuratively) A doctrine based on the use of spectacular displays of force.