vigilant

en-adj

vigilant (comparative more vigilant, superlative most vigilant)

more vigilant (comparative)
most vigilant (superlative)

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

From French vigilant or its source, Latin vigilans, present participle of vigilare (“stay awake”), from vigil (“awake”). Doublet of vigilante, from Spanish. Displaced Old English wacor.

von der LUTKE / Argent, a crane vigilant proper. AG. Carl von der Lutke. Arr. 1857 with the British German Crimea legion. Obtained a grant of land in the Eastern Province of the Cape Colony.

1972, C. Pama, Heraldry of South African Families: Coats of Arms/ Crests/ Ancestry:

[...] and sharing the same heraldry : argent, a crane, vigilant, or,[…]

1997, Saint Thomas More, More to Cranevelt, Leuven University Press, →ISBN, page 23:


bolster

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

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

cog

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


Hindu

Hindus (plural)
Hindoo (alternative dated)

→ Hawaiian: Hinekū

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

der

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


backup

→ Danish: backup

→ Italian: backup

→ Japanese: バックアップ (bakkuappu)

→ Korean: 백업 (baegeop)

→ Portuguese: backup, becape

→ Swedish: backup

He's got a gun! You'd better send for backup.

Shaman: My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?
Shepard: How is a candidate tested if he brings backup on his Rite of Passage?
Shaman: Not every krogan can be the strongest warrior, but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side.
Shaman: If the ones who know you best can find nothing worthy in you, you should wander the wastes and die alone before you weaken my clan.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:


hitch

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

She served two hitches in Vietnam.

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

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

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


engaged

/ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/

/ɛnˈɡeɪd͡ʒd/


graduated

(taxation) Increasing in rate with the taxable base.


about-turn

about-turns (plural)
about turn (alternative)

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

From the imperative phrase used in the military.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

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


fratricide

en-noun

fratricide (countable and uncountable, plural fratricides)

From Middle French fratricide or its etymon Latin frātricīdium.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


ridge

ridges (plural)
rig (alternative dialectal)

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

inh

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

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

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


pill

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

(firearms, slang) A bullet (projectile).


pin down

en-verb

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

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

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


PCV

Partido Comunista de Venezuela
w:Partido Comunista de Venezuela

(politics) Initialism of Partido Comunista de Venezuela.


lucrative

en-adj

lucrative (comparative more lucrative, superlative most lucrative)

more lucrative (comparative)
most lucrative (superlative)

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

der

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

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

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

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

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


lunette

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

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

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

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

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

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


schoolgirl

en-verb

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

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

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

2004, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, page 57:

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

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

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


windscreen

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


cruiser

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

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

(US, law enforcement) A police patrol vehicle.


flip

en-noun

flip (countable and uncountable, plural flips)

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

inh

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

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

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

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

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


flip

en-verb

flip (third-person singular simple present flips, present participle flipping, simple past and past participle flipped)

flips (present singular third-person)
flipping (participle present)
flipped (participle past)
flipped (past)

Wisconsin had been Democratic for decades, but the Republicans flipped it in 2016.

(transitive, US politics) To win a state (or county) won by another party in the preceding elections.


entrench

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

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

/ɪnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

/ɛnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

/ɛnˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/

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

The army entrenched its camp, or entrenched itself.

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

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


endorse

endorses (plural)
indorse (alternative rare)
endoce (alternative obsolete)

Alteration influenced by Medieval Latin indorsare of Middle English endosse, from Old French endosser (“to put on the back”), from Latin dossum, alternative form of dorsum (“back”), from which also dorsal (“of the back”). That is, the ‘r’ was dropped in Latin dossum, which developed into Old French and then Middle English endosse, and then the ‘r’ was re-introduced into English via the Medieval Latin indorsare, which had retained the ‘r’. Note that the alternative spelling indorse also uses the initial ‘i’ from Latin (in-, rather than en-), but this form is now rare.

der

(heraldry) A diminutive of the pale, usually appearing in pairs on either side of a pale.


residence

en-noun

residence (countable and uncountable, plural residences)

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


wingnut

On November 21, evangelist Franklin Graham (son of the late Rev. Billy Graham and a strident Trump supporter) discussed impeachment when he appeared on fellow wingnut Eric Metaxas’ radio show.

2019 November 27, Alex Henderson, AlterNet:

(slang, derogatory, politics) Someone with bizarre or extreme political views (especially extreme conservative views).

ekstremisto

(slang) one with extreme or radical political views


detach

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


sticker

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

affix

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


reflexive

From Medieval Latin reflexīvus, from Latin reflexus, equivalent to reflex + -ive.

Shoigu's thinly veiled nuclear threats against NATO are part of the Kremlin's broader reflexive control campaign to influence Western decision-making in Russia's favor and against Western states' own interests. Shoigu's nuclear threats are attempts to push European states to self-deter and reduce their buildups of their defenses – leaving NATO's eastern border largely undefended. These reflexive control efforts are in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2021 demand before launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine that NATO not deploy any military forces to states that became NATO members after 1997, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

2025 April 24, Christina Harward, Daria Novikov, Anna Harvey, Grace Mappes, George Barros, Nate Trotter, William Runkel, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 24, 2025”, in Ukraine Project, Institute for the Study of War:

(politics) Producing or provoking a reciprocal response.


limbo

en-noun

limbo (countable and uncountable, plural limbos or limboes)

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

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

der

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


sheepdog

sheepdogs (plural)
sheep dog (alternative)

(US, slang, law enforcement) A police officer.


boondoggle

Coined by American scout leader Robert H. Link in 1929; alternatively “boon doggle”. Compare woggle of similar sense, which is attested in the same period. In the sense of a “wasteful government program”, popularized in 1935 by The New York Times, in reference to New Deal programs which were claimed to feature people making such braids.

coinage

Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle.

Senator John Stennis […] has been active and effective for so long as a member of the Armed Services Committee that he knows as well as any man can where the bodies are buried in the Pentagon and the boondoggles are buried in the defense budget.

1971 September 19, Tom Wicker, “In the Nation”, in The New York Times, retrieved 2018-08-13:

By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.

2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place, →ISBN:

“Oh, for the-- how much did you waste on that little boondoggle?” “Well, it's not that so much as--” “Krieger.” “Well, I needed ballast, and what better to simulate bricks of cocaine than, you know, bricks of cocaine.”

2014 March 24, Adam Reed, “On the Carpet” (18:08 from the start), in Archer, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Malory Archer (Jessica Walter):

Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.

2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times:

For cynics, it is a boondoggle plagued by delays (it began in 2007 and was supposed to begin experiments in 2016, but this will not now happen until 2025), questionable management and ballooning costs (double the original estimate).

2019 May 2, “Iter, a reactor in France, may deliver fusion power as early as 2045”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(Canada, US, figuratively, usually politics) A waste of time or money; a pointless activity.


recall

en-verb

recall (third-person singular simple present recalls, present participle recalling, simple past and past participle recalled)

recalls (present singular third-person)
recalling (participle present)
recalled (participle past)
recalled (past)
recal (alternative obsolete)
re-call (alternative)

From re- + call, probably modelled on Latin revocāre, French rappeler, English withcall.

That stop-start-stop has created a groundswell of anger toward Mr. Newsom, a Democrat in the third year of his first term, that is increasingly fueling a movement to recall him from office in one of the bluest of blue states.

2021 February 19, Nellie Bowles, “Hurt by Lockdowns, California’s Small Businesses Push to Recall Governor”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(transitive, US politics) To remove an elected official through a petition and direct vote.


recall

en-noun

recall (countable and uncountable, plural recalls)

recalls (plural)
recal (alternative obsolete)
re-call (alternative)

recall petition

representative recall

The action or fact of calling someone or something back.

(chiefly US politics) The right or procedure by which a public official may be removed from office before the end of their term of office, by a vote of the people to be taken on the filing of a petition signed by a required number or percentage of qualified voters.

(US politics) The right or procedure by which the decision of a court may be directly reversed or annulled by popular vote, as was advocated, in 1912, in the platform of the Progressive Party for certain cases involving the police power of the state.


cauldron

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


purdah

purdah (countable and uncountable, plural purdahs)

purdahs (plural)
pardah (alternative)
purda (alternative)

Borrowed from Hindustani پردہ / पर्दा (pardā), and its etymon Classical Persian پرده (pardah, “curtain; screen; (archaic) veil”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).

der

Despite Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris's reassurance that "the White Paper is coming" it was further delayed by the period of purdah that preceded local elections held on May 6.

2021 June 2, “Network News: ‘Root and Branch’ Review Three Years in the Making”, in Rail, number 932, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:

(countable, UK politics) The period between the announcement of an election or referendum and its conclusion, during which civil servants refrain from making policy announcements or taking actions that could be seen as advantageous to certain candidates in the election.


rustication

en-noun

rustication (countable and uncountable, plural rustications)

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


hoochie

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

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

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


working majority

working majority (plural working majorities)

(politics) A majority big enough for the party or faction in power to carry through most of its legislative programme without the risk of parliamentary defeat.


Archie

Archie (countable and uncountable, plural Archies)

Clipping of Archibald + -ie.
The sense “anti-aircraft artillery” is said to be from airmen dodging hostile fire and shouting “Archibald, certainly not”, the refrain of a then popular music hall song of the same name first performed by George Robey in 1911. This habit probably originated with the pilot and commander Amyas Borton (1886–1969).

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

2012, Pat Kelleher, The Alleyman, →ISBN:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quickly our five machines dodged the Archies as we crossed.

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

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


doggy

doggy (countable and uncountable, plural doggies)

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

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

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


blackamoor

blackamoors (plural)
blackamore (alternative)
blackemore (alternative)
blackemoor (alternative)
blackymore (alternative Scotland)
blackmoor (alternative obsolete)

From earlier blackmoor + -a-. By surface analysis, black + -a- + Moor.

Argent, three blackamoors’ heads couped sable, capped or, fretty gules.

`Well, Job,' I said, `perhaps it would be as well. There are lots of blankets there, only be careful to keep out of the moon, or it may turn your head or blind you.' `Lord, sir! I don't think it would much matter if it did; it is that turned already with the sight of these blackamoors and their filthy, thieving ways.'

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Go venture shipwreck on the sullen coasts
Where blackamoors make captive Christian men ...

1935, T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, Part II:

"What!" exclaimed the Prince, "the music is by the blackamoor (a black Moor). Well, my fine blackamoor, henceforth thou art in my service."

2003, Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn, Beethoven: Revealing His True Identity:

What had Pringle done to merit such a severe penalty? He had said to Adusei during a criminal trial, "How's the blackamoor?". The Tribunal found that this was offensive, which clearly it was, and constituted an act of racial discrimination.

2002, Barbara Hewson, An English Bar Disciplinary Tribunal went over the top when dealing with a racial harassment case.:

Gage noted the clothing of the slaves of the Spanish nobles, and silk was common to them. "The gentlemen have their train of blackamoor slaves, some a dozen, some half a dozen, waiting on them, in brave and gallant liveries, heavy with gold and silver lace, with silk stockings on their black legs, and roses on their feet, and swords by their sides."

1958, Maurice W. Connell, The Prophet Said Silk (http://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/BoM/SILK02.html), citing Thomas Gage's Travels in the New World, J. Eric S. Thompson (editor), page 73

(archaic, heraldry, now offensive) A person with dark black skin, especially one from north Africa.


wrestler

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

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

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


emblazon

en-verb

emblazon (third-person singular simple present emblazons, present participle emblazoning, simple past and past participle emblazoned)

emblazons (present singular third-person)
emblazoning (participle present)
emblazoned (participle past)
emblazoned (past)

From en- + blazon, from Old French blason (“shield”).

(transitive, heraldry) To draw (a coat of arms).

heraldikus díszítéssel lát el (pl. címert)


erect

en-adj

erect (comparative more erect, superlative most erect)

more erect (comparative)
most erect (superlative)

flaccid

antonym(s) of “rigid, standing out perpendicularly”

From Middle English erect, a borrowing from Latin ērectus (“upright”), past participle of ērigō (“raise, set up”), from ē- (“out”) + regō (“to direct, keep straight, guide”).

(heraldry) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.


defilement

en-noun

defilement (countable and uncountable, plural defilements)

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

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


defile

en-verb

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

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

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

der

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

дефилирам

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

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


defile

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

дефиле

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

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

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

jono

single file of soldiers; any single file


defile

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

bor

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


defile

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


supporter

From Middle English supporter, supportour, equivalent to support + -er.

[…] I am fully perſuaded that there cannot remain a doubt of the uſe of ſupporters having originated from the fancy of ſeal-engravers. Supporters were likewiſe anciently uſed by divers perſons in private life, as appears by their ſeals, who had offices of high dignity in the ſtate, and more eſpecially by thoſe whoſe employments had the title of Lord prefixed to the ſtile; as Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Preſident of the Council, Lord of the Marches of Wales, Lord Warden of the Stanneries, &c.

1780, Joseph Edmondson, [Joseph Ayloffe], “Marshalling”, in A Complete Body of Heraldry: … Glover's Ordinary of Arms, Augmented and Improved; an Alphabet of Arms, Containing upwards of Fifty Thousand Coats, with their Crests, &c. and a Copious Glossary, Explaining All the Technical Terms Used in Heraldry. In Two Volumes. Illustrated with Copper-plates, volume I, London: Printed for the author, by T. Spilsbury, Snowhill; and sold by J[ames] Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; T[homas] Payne and Son, at the Meuse-Gate; J[ames] Robson, in Bond-Street; J[ohn] Walter, Charing-Cross; J. Ridley, in St. James's Street; and R. Faulder, in Bond-Street, →OCLC, page 192:

The Unicorn is the well-known dexter Supporter of England. […] A pair of unicorns also support the shield of the Duke of Rutland. […] A Monster, a compound of a Lion and a Fish, or a Sea-Lion, is known in the fabulous menagerie of Heraldry. Two of these Sea-Lions are Supporters of the Viscount Falmouth. So are the Pegasus[…], the winged Horse of Classic antiquity, the dexter Supporter of the Baron Berwick; […]

1864, Charles Boutell, “Miscellaneous Charges: Part II., Animate Beings”, in Heraldry, Historical and Popular. … With Nine Hundred and Seventy-five Illustrations, 3rd rev. and enl. edition, London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty, →OCLC, page 68:

(heraldry) An animal or figure that supports a shield in a coat of arms.


natant

en-adj

natant (comparative more natant, superlative most natant)

more natant (comparative)
most natant (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns. Doublet of naiant.

(heraldry) In a horizontal position, as if swimming.


Lawrence

en-proper noun

Lawrence (countable and uncountable, plural Lawrences)

Lawrences (plural)
Lieurance (alternative)

(US, law, sexuality, US politics, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of Lawrence v. Texas, a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex sexual relations; and reaffirmed the existence of a right to privacy under due process following the 14th Amendment.


cluster

→ Catalan: clúster

→ French: cluster

→ German: Cluster

→ Italian: cluster

→ Japanese: クラスター (kurasutā)

→ Portuguese: cluster

→ Russian: кла́стер (kláster)

→ Spanish: clúster, cluster

→ Swedish: kluster

High Performance Computing Center, Stuttgart

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

nb...

closter, clostre, clouster, clowster, clustre, clustyr

բույլ

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

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

klynge

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


guillotine

Borrowed from French guillotine, named after the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), who proposed its use for capital punishment.

named-after

/ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/

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

The right hon. Gentleman is making a great stooshie about time in relation to this Bill, but was it not the case that, when the SNP [Scottish National Party] Scottish Government introduced their continuity Bill in the Scottish Parliament, they operated a ruthless guillotine to prevent proper scrutiny of it? That is the case; they ran a guillotine on that Bill, and there was a very limited amount of time allowed for debate and scrutiny, yet he complains about that happening here.

2019 October 22, Stephen Kerr, Member of Parliament for Stirling, “Second Reading of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill”, in House of Commons Debates (House of Commons)^(https://web.archive.org/web/20191024000813/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-10-22/debates/277C5A20-456D-469B-A415-D04AFFD83248/EuropeanUnion(WithdrawalAgreement)Bill), volume 666, archived from the original on 2019-10-24, column 860:

(British) A parliamentary procedure for fixing the dates when various stages of discussion of a bill must end, to ensure that the enactment of the bill proceeds expeditiously.

(US) A legislative motion that debate be ended and a vote taken; a cloture.


guillotine

en-verb

guillotine (third-person singular simple present guillotines, present participle guillotining, simple past and past participle guillotined)

guillotines (present singular third-person)
guillotining (participle present)
guillotined (participle past)
guillotined (past)

Borrowed from French guillotiner (“to execute with a guillotine, to guillotine”), from guillotine (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

bor

/ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/

(British) To end discussion (about a parliamentary bill or part of one) by invoking a guillotine procedure.

(US) To end (a legislative debate) by invoking cloture.


fraise

en-verb

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

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

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

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

1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:

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


fraise

Borrowed from French fraise (“strawberry”), from earlier *fraige, from Latin frāga.

The surname of Bernard is derived from the ancestor carrying, for his device, Argent, a bear rampant sable muzzled or; the name of Frazer from the bearing of fraises or strawberry leaves; and many other instances might be adduced ...

1846, William Newton (Patent Agent), A Display of Heraldry, page 352

Az. a fraise arg. between three garbs or, all within a bordure engrailed of the second. George Cumming (1790)

1893, Sir James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, page 112:

The Emperor also gave the family three fraises, or stalked strawberries, for their coat of arms.

2015, Howard Belton, A History of the World in Five Menus:

(heraldry) A stylized strawberry with leaves.


rising

(heraldry, of a bird) Having its wings raised (either addorsed or sometimes displayed), standing on the tips of its feet as if about to take flight, typically depicted in profile.


bump

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

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

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

onom

imitative

cog

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


submit

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

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


UHF

(healthcare) Initialism of United Health Foundation.


ultimatum

en-noun

ultimatum (plural ultimatums or ultimata)

From Latin ultimatus (“late, last final”), from Latin ultimus (“extreme, last, furthest, farthest, final”).

بِلَاغ نِهَائِيّ

a final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another

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

. . . But he was directed to present a memorial, urging many reasons for the restitution of the captures made before the war, to represent in its full force, the benefit that would arise, both to France and England, from the total desertion of the war in Germany, and if England should refuse the conditions, now offered as an ultimatum, to wait for farther instructions.
The ultimatum arrived in London August 8. M. Buffy soon after wrote to Mr. Pitt, and in his answer, dated August 15, says, that, as to the stile of the ultimatum and letter, the king his master adheres both to the form and substance of them, he laments that peace appears by the proposals and conduct of France to be far distant, and retorts some charges and elusion and delay.
M. Buffy, and Mr. Pitt however, had a conference on the two ultimatums jointly, and on the 30th of August an answer to the French ultimatum was delivered, in which the French propositions are agreed to, except in the following particulars. . .

1762 The Annual Register or a View of the History, Politicks, and Literature of the Year 1761

1913 U.S. Naval War College: International Law Topics and Discussions
An ultimatum may be issued containing a demand for satisfaction. Such an ultimatum is usually formulated in diplomatic terms, which would not make it too difficult for the state to which it is dispatched to find a way to adjust the difficulties. The ultimatum usually fixes the time within which an answer must be made. The United States required that Spain reply to its demand for withdrawal of Spanish forces from Cuba within three days; i. e., by April 23. War was declared on April 25. An ultimatum in itself does not necessarily involve a declaration of war unless the failure to comply with the demands carries with it a conditional declaration of war.
The British demands upon Venezuela in 1902 required an immediate satisfaction of certain claims, and concluded: “ This communication must be regarded in the light of ultimatum.” The failure of Venezuela to satisfy these claims did not lead to an immediate war, but to an attempt to establish a pacific blockade which subsequently took the form of a true blockade.
Whatever the preliminary negotiations or evidences of strained relations which might have received consideration prior to 1907, among those states now parties to the convention relative to the opening of hostilities, it is now necessary that there be a previous and explicit warning.
This previous and explicit warning may take the form of a reasoned declaration of war or of an ultimatum with a conditional declaration of war.
The reasoned declaration of war was regarded by many as necessary or at least very desirable because the opposing belligerent should be given a formal statement of the grounds of the war and the neutrals should not suffer such great changes in their ordinary rights and obligations without knowledge of the reasons.
If instead of the reasoned declaration of war, the ultimatum with conditional declaration was employed, the reasons for the breaking off of peaceful relations would be stated in the ultimatum.

(diplomacy) A final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another, especially one that expresses a threat of reprisal or war if the terms are not met before some specified date and time.

1724 William Wynne: The Life of Sir Leoline Jenkins, Judge of the High-Court of Admiralty
. . . Thirdly, That they, the Dutch, 5 or 6 Weeks after they had received these Letters, (of 12th of July) call'd for an Ultimatum, so they termed the dernier mot, from us; and that we gave our Ultimatum to the Mediators first by Word of Mouth in August, then on the 5th of September, N. S. in writing.

(diplomacy, dated) An intended final statement of terms or conditions made by one party to another in a negotiation.


tab

First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.

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


Asiatic

en-adj

Asiatic (comparative more Asiatic, superlative most Asiatic)

more Asiatic (comparative)
most Asiatic (superlative)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


flank

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

cog

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

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


barrulet

(heraldry) The smallest diminutive of the bar, one quarter as wide.


kick the tires and light the fires

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


chaff

en-noun

chaff (usually uncountable, plural chaffs)

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

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

silppu

loose material dropped from aircraft to interfere with radar


brig

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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


illuminate

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

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

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

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


tell off

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

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

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

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

1885, Edward Farrow, A Dictionary of Military Terms:

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


OD

en-noun

OD (countable and uncountable, plural ODs)

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

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

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


blowback

blowback (countable and uncountable, plural blowbacks)

blowbacks (plural)
blow-back (alternative)

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

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

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


recess

recess (countable and uncountable, plural recesses)

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”).
Sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends.
The adjective and verb are derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Catalan recés
* Italian recesso
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
* Portuguese recesso
* Spanish receso

дебри

hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place

فُسْحة

temporary stoppage of an activity — see also break, pause

After the Easter recess, Sir George Lynn, who was lately elected member for Millcote, will have to go up to town and take his seat; […]

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter II, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 35:

The recess of the English Parliament lasted six weeks.

1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 98:

(countable) A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.

(government) A period of time when the proceedings of a committee, court of law, parliament, or other official body are temporarily suspended.

aukko

hole or opening — see also hole, opening

休會 /休会

period of time when the proceedings of an official body are temporarily suspended


recess

en-verb

recess (third-person singular simple present recesses, present participle recessing, simple past and past participle recessed)

recesses (present singular third-person)
recessing (participle present)
recessed (participle past)
recessed (past)

When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “In which the Travellers Move Homeward, and Encounter Some Distinguished Characters upon the Way”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 400:

To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).

julistaa tauko

to temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.)

To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. "Many of his nominees have languished, but he's only recessed the ones that were critical to keep agencies functioning."

2013 January 14, Michael Grunwald, “Cliff Dweller”, in Time, volume 181, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 3:

(informal) To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).

esittää tauon pitämistä

to make a recess appointment in respect of (someone)

Class will recess for 20 minutes.

Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break.

pitää tauko

of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break

This court shall recess for its lunch break now.

Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time.

прекъсвам

of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time


pike

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

cog

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

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

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

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

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


Aegis class cruiser

en-noun

Aegis class cruiser (plural Aegis class cruisers)

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


mareschal

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

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


cohabit

en-verb

cohabit (third-person singular simple present cohabits, present participle cohabiting, simple past and past participle cohabited)

cohabits (present singular third-person)
cohabiting (participle present)
cohabited (participle past)
cohabited (past)

From Latin cohabitō; co- + habitō (“I dwell, I live in”).

An outright far-right victory in the two-round poll, which commences on 30 June, could render Macron a lame duck, doomed to “cohabit” with an overtly xenophobic, Islamophobic, authoritarian and illiberal government led, prospectively, by Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s young protege

2024 June 16, Observer editorial, “The Observer view on the French election: Emmanuel Macron is playing a dangerous game”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(politics) To cooperate with an opposing political party.


bork

bork (third-person singular simple present borks, present participle borking, simple past and past participle borked)

borks (present singular third-person)
borking (participle present)
borked (participle past)
borked (past)
Bork (alternative)

A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year.

In light of the current furor over trying to appoint a new Supreme Court justice, I would like to submit a new verb in the English language. Three forms would be "to bork," "borking," and "borked." This would describe the act of partisan political character assassination.

[1987 December 10, Kenneth H. Taylor, “[Voice of the People:] New verb”, in The San Bernardino County Sun, page 11, columns 3–4:

George [H. W.] Bush will almost certainly have an opportunity to nominate one or more justices. It would be a pity for all of us if they are subjected to the treatment accorded Robert Bork. Honest disagreement is one thing; "borking" is something else.

1988 November 30, William McCarthy, “Democrats ‘borked’”, in Chicago Tribune, archived from the original on 2017-10-19, page 20:

I feel strongly that he [Senator John Tower] is being borked. … The charges that have been leveled at him have all proved groundless, baseless.

1989 February 9, CBS This Morning, spoken by Malcolm Wallop:

In other words, I am intentionally borking the headline writer, for no other reason than to make my point with greater force.

1995, Lani Guinier, The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy, New York, N.Y.: Free Press, →ISBN, page xix:

After an eight-year hiatus, these groups are back on the scene, ready to implement an apparent vicious strategy of Borking any judicial nominee who happens to disagree with their view of how the world should be.

2002 February 7, Orrin G[rant] Hatch, “Statement of the Honorable Orrin Hatch, United States Senator, Utah [The Nomination of Charles W. Pickering to be United States Circuit Court Judge for the Fifth Circuit]”, in United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, archived from the original on 2008-09-21:

[Stephen L.] Carter believes that liberals seem to think that only conservatives "bork" and likewise conservatives seem to believe that only liberals "bork," but the unhappy truth is that everybody "borks".

2004, Joseph Michael Green, “Media Activity”, in Your Past and the Press!: Controversial Presidential Appointments: A Study Focusing on the Impact of Interest Groups and Media Activity on the Appointment Process, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 131:

Forcing their adversaries to bork nominees may, they may think, lead voters in the middle to think less well of liberals, enhancing the distaste for Washington politics that has helped conservatives gain political power.

2005, Mark [Victor] Tushnet, “A Supreme Court United?”, in A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court and the Future of Constitutional Law, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 340:

Above all it discusses the best tactics to defeat a borking. Having been in the [Ronald] Reagan White House when Robert Bork was borked, I knew something about the subject, which was a huge help when the same borking guns were turned on my friend Judge [D. Brooks] Smith years later.

2006 October 30, Jeffrey Lord, “Borking Rush”, in American Spectator, archived from the original on 2017-10-17:

(ambitransitive, US politics, often derogatory) To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.


prang

en-noun

prang (countable and uncountable, plural prangs)

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

onomatopoeic

imitative


fire department

en-noun

fire department (plural fire departments)

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

(firefighting, US) An organization, often part of a local government, whose purpose is preventing and putting out fires. May provide other emergency services as well, such as first aid and search and rescue.


WPC

woman police constable
woman police constable#English

(UK, law enforcement, historical) Initialism of woman police constable, a former police rank.


yo-yo

→ Italian: yo-yo

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

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


hung parliament

hung parliament (plural hung parliaments)

From the fact that the work of such a parliament is often suspended because no majority of the Members of Parliament can be obtained to enact legislation or to pass resolutions.

The likelihood of a hung parliament—that is, a parliament in which no single party enjoys an overall majority—is far greater today than it was, for example, in the 1950s. This is primarily because there are now more MPs from the minority parties.

1995, Vernon Bogdanor, “Hung Parliaments and Proportional Representation”, in The Monarchy and the Constitution, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 145:

[I]f proportional representation were to be adopted for UK elections, the position could become even more complicated. In the event of a hung Parliament, which could be a regular occurrence under such a voting system, the monarch would have to nominate both the governing party and the prime minister and could face accusations of partisanship.

1998 September, Tim Hames, Mark Leonard, “The Core Problem for the British Monarchy”, in Modernising the Monarchy (Arguments; 21), London: Demos, →ISBN, page 16:

For Australia and the United Kingdom, hung parliaments, and the long transition period that accompany their formation, have been rare in the post-World War II period. […] Canada too began a cycle of hung parliaments from 2004, and this added complexity to what was traditionally a long transition period from election day to the first sitting of the new parliament[…].

2015, Jennifer Menzies, Anne Tiernan, “Caretaker Conventions”, in Brian Galligan, Scott Brenton, editors, Constitutional Conventions in Westminster Systems: Controversies, Changes and Challenges, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 101:

We are heading for a hung parliament. The UK's first-past-the-post electoral system means balanced parliaments rarely happen in Britain, but it was the case following the 1974 election and most recently in 2010. In the case of a hung parliament, the leader of the party with the most seats is given the opportunity to try to form a government. This can take two forms: one option is a formal coalition with other parties, in which the coalition partners share ministerial jobs and push through a shared agenda. The other possibility is a more informal arrangement, known as "confidence and supply", in which the smaller parties agree to support the main legislation, such as a budget and Queen's speech put forward by the largest party, but do not formally take part in government.

2017 June 9, Rajeev Syal, Alan Travis, “What is a hung parliament and what happens now?: The Conservatives have failed to win a majority but [Theresa] May – or her successor as Tory leader – will still try to form a government”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-06-09:

(government, politics) A parliament in which no single political party has an outright majority.

Scottish National Party
United Kingdom general election, 2017

برلمان معلق

the English term may be used in political science


fire brigade

/ˈfaɪə(ɹ)bɹɪˌɡeɪd/

(firefighting, US) A group of people within a corporation or industrial site, organized for the purpose of putting out fires, usually in addition to their normal job.

فِرْقَة مَطَافِئ

group within a corporation or industrial site

(firefighting, UK, Ireland) An organization, often part of a local government, whose purpose is preventing and putting out fires.

skuadër zjarrfikëse

organization for preventing and putting out fires

foyerwer

borrowed from German, Malmedy region, old

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

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

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


marginal

en-adj

marginal (not generally comparable, comparative more marginal, superlative most marginal)

more marginal (comparative)
most marginal (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin marginālis, equivalent to margin + -al.

լուսանցքային

of, relating to, or located at a margin or an edge

vaa’ankieli-

where the winning margin was a small proportion of the total number of votes

In Bristol West, Labour had a majority of only 1,000, so the seat is considered highly marginal this time around.

In ‘battleground’ seats with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat vote shares increased most in the most marginal seats.

2002, Andrew Geddes, Jonathan Tonge, Labour′s Second Landslide: The British General Election 2001, page 79:

In Outer London, Harrow East is now a more marginal Labour hold than Harrow West.

2007, Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, page 58:

The pendulum lists the seats from least marginal to most marginal for the government on one side, and least marginal to most marginal for the opposition on the other side.

2010, Nick Economou, Zareh Ghazarian, Australian Politics For Dummies, unnumbered page:

He justified his comment by noting that the Labour Party had quickly committed to delivering a high-speed Leeds-Manchester line, and argued that pressure would grow on the Government because there were several marginal parliamentary seats around Leeds and Bradford.

2021 December 1, “Network News: Integrated Rail Plan: Osborne predicts HS2 eastern leg will return”, in RAIL, number 945, page 8:

(comparable) Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.

(politics, chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, of a constituency) Subject to a change in sitting member with only a small change in voting behaviour, this usually being inferred from the small winning margin of the previous election.


marginal

(politics) A constituency won with a small margin.


constituency

John was elected to parliament from the Bedford constituency.

The row started over who will run for parliament in a wealthy rightwing constituency on the left bank in Paris, a safe seat for Sarkozy's ruling UMP. Dati is already a local mayor in the neighbourhood, a job felt to have been handed to her on a plate when she was a Sarkozy favourite. She has since fallen from grace, and when she left government she took a European parliament seat, considered a consolation prize.

2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian:

This follows the confirmation that Gilruth personally ordered the cancellation of engineering works in Fife last year, which is thought to have been the final straw for Gibb […]. Because her Fife constituency was materially affected by the cancellation, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who raised Gibb's departure at First Minister's Questions on May 18, described the incident as a "clear-cut sackable offence".

2023 May 31, “Network News: Micro-management prompted Gibb to quit ScotRail”, in RAIL, number 984, page 25:

(politics) A district represented by one or more elected officials.


canvasser

(politics, obsolete except US, Philippines) A person who scrutinizes the ballot in an election.


DPC

en-noun

DPC (countable and uncountable, plural DPCs)

PW4 (DPC 13900) was at the checkline junction Luard Road near Jaffe Road. They were there to prevent protesters rushing in to block the road from Luard Road.

Paragraph 67, HKSAR v Tong Ying Kit/Reasons for Verdict ([2021] HKCFI 2200)

(Hong Kong, law enforcement) Initialism of detective police constable.

(India, law enforcement) Initialism of District Police Chief A police officer in charge of a police district in the Kerala State Police.


API

(weaponry) Initialism of advanced primer ignition.

armor-piercing incendiary
armor-piercing incendiary#English

(weaponry) Initialism of armor-piercing incendiary.


predict

en-verb

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

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

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

تَنَبَّأَ

to state, or make something known in advance

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

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

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


nihilism

en-noun

nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

Probably borrowed from French nihilisme, German Nihilismus, or Late Latin nihilismus; the French, German, and Latin words are derived from Latin nihil (“indefinite nothing”), from nihilum (“nothing”), from ne- (prefix negating the principal meaning) + hīlum (“a trifle; not in the least”). The English word is cognate with Italian nichilismo, Spanish nihilismo, Russian нигили́зм (nigilízm), philosophical doctrine grounded on negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life; emptiness; lack of education and cultural refinement.

As with the original American historicists, they accept only historical references and deny all extrahistorical references, including those implicit in idealism and positivism. [...] They deny both authoritarian and subjectivistic nihilisms, and they affirm the responsibility of the subject.

1988, William Dean, “Preface”, in History Making History: The New Historicism in American Religious Thought (SUNY Series in Philosophy), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page ix:

(usually uncountable, politics) The rejection of non-proven or non-rationalized assertions in the social and political spheres of society.

The Government took up the word, and used nihilism to stigmatize all revolutionary, and ultra democratic and socialistic tendencies; and we have seen it play its part in the recent investigations into the attempted assassination of the Emperor.

1867, Eugene Schuyler, “Preface”, in Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef [i.e., Ivan Turgenev], translated by Eugene Schuyler, Fathers and Sons […], New York, N.Y.: Leypoldt and Holt, →OCLC, page vii:

(uncountable, Russia, politics, historical) Alternative letter-case form of Nihilism (“a Russian movement of the 1860s that rejected all authority and promoted the use of violence for political change”).


accouterment

accouterments (plural)
accoutrement (alternative Commonwealth)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


JFK

Or the company may not want the internet to be filled with Ghiblified photos of the 9/11 terror attacks, or Jeffrey Epstein hanging out with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, or the JFK assassination — all of which have gone viral on X.

2025 March 28, Jacob Shamsian, “Studio Ghibli has few legal options to stop OpenAI from ripping off its style”, in Business Insider, New York, N.Y.: Insider Inc., →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-28:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
w:John F. Kennedy

(US politics) Initialism of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th US president (served 1961–1963).


ICBM

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

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

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

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

(weaponry) Initialism of intercontinental ballistic missile.

МКБР

abbreviation of intercontinental ballistic missile


Abbreviation of Group of Eight (nations).

(politics, historical, 1997–2014) The eight leading industrialized nations: Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia.


MCO

(medicine, healthcare) Initialism of managed care organization.


glide

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

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


kickback

kickback (countable and uncountable, plural kickbacks)

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

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


peekaboo

peekaboo boxing

a peekaboo guard

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


engagement

engagement (countable and uncountable, plural engagements)

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

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


ROTC

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

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

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

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


barrage

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

ubor

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

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

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

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


spin doctor

spin doctors (plural)
spindoctor (alternative rare)

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

From spin + doctor. First used describing US politics, early 1980s.

Many believed that the reduction in public spending was a disaster but the spin doctors presented it as a triumph for lower taxation.

A dozen men in good suits and women in silk dresses will circulate smoothly among the reporters, spouting confident opinions. They won't be just press agents trying to impart a favorable spin to a routine release. They'll be the Spin Doctors, senior advisers to the candidates, and they'll be playing for very high stakes.

1984 October 21, “The Debate and the Spin Doctors”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Now that the cold war has ended and political ideologies have been replaced by pollsters and spin doctors, Machiavelli's cleareyed assessments of power dynamics and pragmatic advantage are suddenly in vogue.

2000 December 3, Alexander Stille, “The Original Spin Doctor”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

William Hague, shadow foreign secretary, said the Williams document was "further evidence that spin doctors, not intelligence analysts, were leading from the first in deciding what the British people were told about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction".

2008 February 19, Richard Norton-Taylor, quoting William Hague, “Iraq weapons dossier draft reveals role of 'spin doctor'”, in The Guardian:

Lord Steel, the former Liberal leader, has launched a despairing attack on the prevalence of spin doctors in politics, noting that he is given "daily outpourings of tweets to circulate" and bombarded by email with "lines to take" on current issues.

2013 October 31, Rowena Mason, quoting David Steel, “Lord Steel criticises culture of spin and tweeting in modern politics”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(business, politics) A person employed to gloss over a poor public image (or present it in a better light) in business and politics, especially after unfavourable results have been achieved. A lobbyist; PR person.


colourless

en-adj

colourless (comparative more colourless, superlative most colourless)

more colourless (comparative)
most colourless (superlative)
colorless (alternative)

They cannot, of course, assume a colourless position because they cater to the radical rank and file and would be branded renegades.

1926, David Joseph Saposs, Left Wing Unionism: A Study of Radical Policies and Tactics, page 73:

(politics) Neutral in opinion or allegiance; centrist


forty-four

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

1936 July 7, The Journal of American Folklore, volume 40, number 193, page 221:

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


forty-eight

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

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

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


illiberal

illiberal (comparative more illiberal, superlative most illiberal)

more illiberal (comparative)
most illiberal (superlative)

From Middle French illibéral, from Latin illiberalis, equivalent to il- + liberal.

In the general atmosphere of lawlessness and arbitrariness the final outcome may be less harsh and unpleasant than might at first have been expected — though it can be a lot worse if you are an Albanian "irredentist", for example, or a Croatian "separatist", or if you happen to be undergoing trial and sentence in an illiberal republic like Bosnia or Hercegovina.

(economics, politics) Not adhering to either liberalism or neoliberalism.


deputy

deputies (plural)
deputee (alternative archaic)

From French député, from Late Latin deputatus (“appointed”).

պատգամավոր

member of parliament — see also legislator, Member of Parliament

(government) The name for a member of parliament in some countries.

A member of the French National Assembly.

(historical) A member of the French Chamber of Deputies, formerly called Corps Législatif.

Eamon Ryan is a deputy in the Dáil.

At today's meeting, Deputy Ryan will speak on local issues.

(Ireland, often capitalized) A member of Dáil Éireann, or the title of a member of Dáil Éireann.

The State Duma comprises 450 deputies.


soiled

soiled (comparative more soiled, superlative most soiled)

more soiled (comparative)
most soiled (superlative)

(healthcare, medicine) Of a patient or child, stained or dirtied by defecation.


at bay

(heraldry) Of an animal, especially a docile animal in contrast to a predatory animal which would be blazoned statant: standing, in profile toward dexter, with all four feet on the ground. (If gazing at the viewer, the animal is at gaze.)


controller

/kənˈtɹəʊlə/

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

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


rainbow coalition

en-noun

rainbow coalition (plural rainbow coalitions)

Named after the colours associated with various parties: red for Labour, blue for the Conservatives, etc.

(British, Ireland, politics) A government consisting of a coalition of three or more parties, particularly parties with divergent ideologies.


IED

IED (countable and uncountable, plural IEDs)

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

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

improvised explosive device
improvised explosive device#English

(weaponry) Initialism of improvised explosive device.

СВП

initialism of improvised explosive device — see also improvised explosive device


AFB

AFB (countable and uncountable, plural AFBs)

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

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

(military, aviation) Initialism of air force base.


ANC

ANC (countable and uncountable, plural ANCs)

(healthcare) Initialism of antenatal care.


backbencher

backbenchers (plural)
back-bencher (alternative)

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament

(politics) A Member of Parliament who does not have cabinet rank, and who therefore sits on one of the backbenches or in one of the back rows of the legislature.

後坐議員 /后坐议员

member of Parliament who does not have cabinet rank

þingmaður sem ekki er í flokksforystunni


backbench

backbenches (plural)
back bench (alternative)
back-bench (alternative)

His spacious quarters indicate his transition from backbench upstart to established member of the governing team.

There was no separate back-bench organization ; indeed there were no back-bench caucuses in any Nigerian Legislative House, and any attempt to create one would probably have been regarded by the leadership concerned as a subversive move.

1963, Richard L. Sklar, Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation, published 2004, page 400:

Both Thatcher's and Major's PPSs developed the role of trying to see that those members considered loyal to the leadership won the main positions on backbench party committees.

1995, R. L. Borthwick, Churchill to Major: The British Prime Ministership Since 1945, page 153:

In fall 1984, Brian Mulroney led a cabinet with far more political experience than the Conservative backbench.

1997, David Campbell Docherty, Mr. Smith Goes to Ottawa: Life in the House of Commons:

2009, John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, page 301,
In situations of low ministerial turnover and increased professionalisation of politics, with most TDs regarding politics as a career, Taoisigh could find that impatience on the backbenches leads to calls for leadership turnover to effect promotions.

A bench at the back of a room or seating area.

(politics, UK, New Zealand, often attributive) In a house of legislature following the model of the Westminster system (such as the UK House of Commons), any bench behind either of the front benches and occupied by members of each party group who are not party leaders, cabinet ministers, holders of offices such as the whips, etc.


House of Commons

In this term, house means a deliberative assembly, while the Commons stands for the common people, as opposed to nobility.

When the legislation was debated by the House of Commons, Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said it was "riddled with holes", while former Conservative Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was "badly written".

2024 March 20, Conrad Landin, “"Farcical" Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act isn't working”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 25:

(UK politics) The lower house of the British Parliament.

(Canada, politics) The lower house of the Canadian Parliament.

مَجْلِس عُمُوم

lower house in UK or Canadian parliament


Houses of Parliament

Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster

(UK, politics) The House of Commons and the House of Lords within the Palace of Westminster.

(politics) Collectively, all the chambers of parliament in the political system of a particular jurisdiction.


ANA

(military) Initialism of Afghan National Army.


deadline

en-verb

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

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

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

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


armament

en-noun

armament (countable and uncountable, plural armaments)

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

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


turret

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

оръдейна кула

a revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates

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

armoured fighting vehicle
armoured fighting vehicle

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


small-l liberal

small-l liberal (plural small-l liberals)

(politics) A person who holds liberal views but may or may not be a member or supporter of their country's "Liberal Party".

I was a factional warrior for the [New South Wales] Right of the [New South Wales] Libs. […] the main reason I allowed my membership to lapse was simple. I saw the conservative wing being overrun by a bunch of feral ex-lefties for whom being small “l” liberal was only a means to further their careers in the political sex industry.

2006 January 3, Irfan Yusuf, “What’s changed about me?”, in Webdiary:

Was this a reflection of [then-leader of the Victorian Liberal Party Teb] Baillieu's small-l liberal values or just a product of anger over public safety and inadequate rail services?

2010 December 4, Michael Gordon, “Big challenges for Melbourne's small-l Liberal”, in The Sunday Morning Herald:

Harry Guinness, was a policy and political adviser to Julie Bishop when she was foreign minister and deputy Liberal leader. His responsibilities included foreign aid, climate change and environmental sustainability. Last summer’s bushfires were the catalyst for Guinness — self-described as “definitely philosophically a small ‘l’ Liberal” — and colleagues to set up Blueprint as a pro-market think tank.

2021 March 12, Mike Steketee, “The revolt of the Liberal moderates”, in Inside Story:

(Australian politics) A person who is a member of, or associated with, the Moderate (centrist) faction of the Liberal Party of Australia.


cat's-paw

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

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

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

dupe

one unwittingly used for another's purposes

an unrelated metaphor from a separate story

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

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


abaissé

Borrowed from French abaissé (“to lower”).

Or, a bend sable, on a chief of the first a pomeis charged with a cross gold; the whole abaissé under another chief of the arms of the Order of St. John, Gules a cross argent.

1896, John Woodward, A treatise on heraldry, British and foreign, W. & A.K. Johnston, page 129:

(heraldry) Of a charge, especially a fess: borne lower than usual.

(heraldry) Having the ends (tips) of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield (of an eagle, etc).


vol

(heraldry) A heraldic symbol consisting of a pair of outstretched wings, often conjoined at their shoulders.