napoo

World War I British and ANZAC army slang, probably a corruption of French “il n′y a plus” (“there is no more”).

What shall I do? / My poor old dug-out is napoo.

1918 April, 'R', An elegy on my dugout, when it was done in, published in Four Whistles by D Company of the Scottish Officer Cadet Battalion, quoted in Graham Seal, The Soldiers' Press: Trench Journals in the First World War 2013 →ISBN

“[…] It seems scrounging for fuel ’ad reached such a pitch in the village […] But our washing ’ad to be done, ’an I thought if I got the whole of this football team scrounging they might find something as everyone else ’ad overlooked.[…]” / “‘Very well,’ says I, ‘San fairy ann. Napoo washing—napoo ball.’[…]”

1920 March 10, “Won on the Posts. (With the British Army in France.)”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume CLVIII, London: […] Bradbury, Agnew & Co., […], →OCLC, page 185, column 1:

‘Very well,’ says I, ‘it doesn't matter. No more washing—no more ball.’

One afternoon the corps was due to shift, so that morning the cook said to the Turco, giving him his farewell tin: 'Oh la, la, Johnny, napoo pozzy tomorrow.'

1929 November, Robert Graves, chapter XVII, in Good-bye to All That: An Autobiography, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 237:

The war was napoo, fini, and the Rhine the end of the journey.

1964, Pierre van Paassen, To Number Our Days, page 159:

(military slang, now historical) Finished, dead, no more, gone; non-existent.

‘Hey, Bill, where′s Charles?’ / ‘Napoo.’ / ‘What?’ / ‘Yes. He was out on a listening post and lit a cigarette. Sniper got him.’

1918, Hereward Carrington, Psychical Phenomena and the War, page 69:


napoo

en-verb

napoo (third-person singular simple present napoos, present participle napooing, simple past and past participle napooed)

napoos (present singular third-person)
napooing (participle present)
napooed (participle past)
napooed (past)

He will napoo the rations.

“The general says that if you are wise you will leave before the cannons come. Otherwise you′ll get ‘napooed,’ ” and he made an expressive gesture. “Compris?”

1918, Roland Pertwee, The Little Landscape: Everybody′s Magazine, volume 38, page 35:

I thought a man was lucky if he did not get napooed first trip in.

1918, Hereward Carrington, Psychical Phenomena and the War, page 68:

1984, John Masters, Man of War, 1984, US title High Command, page 230,
“No,” Merton said shortly. “We sit tight, they find us. If we both go wandering about looking for each other in the middle of the night, we′ll start a battle and the whole plan for tomorrow will be napooed.”

German planes had not only carried out a raid behind our lines, but a long-range shell had actually hit one of the Battalion cookers and “napooed” it completely.

1988, Sidney Rogerson, Twelve days, page 19:

(UK, army, slang) To finish; to put an end to; to kill.


napoo

“[…]Finish! Napoo!” and he spread his hands expressively, holding the cup upside down with the cloth hanging out of it, before he went on: “But it hasn't come to that yet.[…]”

1939, Ruthven Todd, Over the Mountain, published 1978, page 216:


proxy mine

2000: "twopinacoladas", review of The World is not Enough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/review/R12476.html
In mid night departure (forest with the air control) base the frame rate ''SUCKS'' out side far worse then PD with 4 players 8 sims and proxy mines.

Proxy mines are always good because the computer doesn't seem to defend against them.

2002: "yc", Super Smash Bros. Melee: Marth http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/516492/18648

2004: "TerranRedneck", review of Custom Robo http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/review/R73394.html
Pods are like "little buddies" that help you out. Some buzz around your rivals head obscuring his vision and annoying him, some serve as proxy mines, while others simply bounce off the walls blowing up on the first bot they meet.

The proxy mines detonate when anyone comes near them (including the one who set the mine) and are absolutely wonderful for laying traps.

2006: "ProtectorOne", Perfect Dark: Multiplayer Scenario FAQ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/file/198275/43519

If you get too close it'll trigger. Shoot it from a safe distance and it will blow up. … Leave the room and go through the door that was previously protected by a proxy mine.

2007: "UnknownMercernary", Die Hard: Vendetta: FAQ/Walkthrough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/479800/47821

(slang, weaponry, video games) A proximity mine; a mine that explodes when something approaches within a certain distance.


very well

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

Conning officer: "Rudder amidships."

Helmsman: "Rudder amidships aye! Rudder now amidships."

Conning officer: "Very well."

(naval) A standard response by a superior to a report or confirmation.


AFRICOM

(US, military) Acronym of Africa Command.


nebuly

nébulé (alternative)
nebulé (alternative)

Elizabeth Brooke, […] Argent, a cross nebuly per pale gules and sable, […]

1895, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, and Being the First Attempt to Show which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, page 134:

'That is the coat of the Blandamers—barry nebuly of six, argent and vert.' It was the organist who stood near him in the deepening shadows.' I forgot that such jargon probably conveys no meaning to you, and, indeed, I know no heraldry myself excepting only this one coat of arms, and sometimes wish,' he said with a sigh, 'that I knew nothing of that either. […] every tavern loafer will talk to you about the "nebuly coat" as if it were a thing he wore.'

1904, John Meade Falkner, The Nebuly Coat, page 14:

(heraldry) Edged in a deeply wavy line, intended to represent clouds.


rempli

(42) Berks, an Antient and Honourable FAmily, but hath yet no Issue. His Arms are Argent on a Chief Gules, two Mullets Or, a Label on a Crescent for his Armorial difference; and for Crest the Falcon Or. Ducally gorged Gules, and an Eagle Or on the Breast of the last; the Lock Gold, rempli per Pale Argent and Sable therein, […]

1713, Notitia St. Johanniana: or, Genealogical and historical memoirs of the ... family of St. John, etc:

Chief rempli, or bordered. Plate XXIX.

1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 21:

rempli [...], a. [< F. rempli, pp. of remplir, fill up, < re- + emplir, fill, < L. implere, fill up : see implement.] In her., having another tincture than its own laid over or covering the greater part : thus, a chief azure rempli or has a broad band of gold occupying nearly the whole space of the chief, so that only a blue fimbriation shows around it. [Image caption:] Argent, a chief azure rempli or.

1914, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, page 5073:

(heraldry, rare) Having another tincture than its own covering the greater part.


DCA

dual-capable aircraft
dual-capable aircraft#English

(aviation, military) Initialism of dual-capable aircraft.


green state

(US politics) A state where the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is influential.

(US politics, idiomatic, informal, uncommon) A U.S. state perceived as environmentally friendly.

Indeed, the emergence of a debate about the nature of the green state has been one of the most significant contemporary developments in green political theory.

2007, Neil Carter, The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy - Page 60

(politics) The environmental policies in a given nation state which drive economics.


air marshal

T.S.A. said its office of inspection makes quality assurance visits to ensure that the air marshals are properly prepared for their missions. […] Employees with the air marshals view their jobs as crucial to overall efforts to protect airplanes and airports from terrorist attacks.

2018 April 25, Ron Nixon, “Scandals and Investigations, but Few Arrests, for Air Marshals Program”, in The New York Times:

(US, law enforcement) An armed, undercover guard on a commercial-airline flight.

(British, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, military) A military rank between that of air vice-marshal and air chief marshal, equivalent to an army lieutenant general.


embuggerance

It didn’t matter for them, the course was just a three-week embuggerance and then they’d go home for tea and medals.
…
We were sleeping with most of our kit on anyway, but it was a major embuggerance to have to pull on your boots, flak jacket and helmet and leg it down to the slit trenches.

1993, Andy McNab, Bravo Two Zero, from, published 2008, →ISBN, pages 27 and 80:

Jackrum stared at him blankly for a moment, and then said: ‘Well, now … it looks like what we have here is an embuggerance which, my lads of the Cheesemongers, is defined as an obstruction in the way of progress. I propose to deal with it in this wise!’

2003, Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment:

(British, military, slang) Any obstacle (natural or artificial) that gets in the way of progress.


probie

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

A probie never complains. A probie keeps his mouth shut, his eyes open. A probie is never idle. A probie is always learning or drilling or cleaning. That's why you're still called a probie: for one year after you leave training school.

1997. Steve Delson. "The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives", Page 41

(slang, firefighting) A neophyte firefighter.


CONOPS

(US, military) A statement or diagram describing how a military operation is to be carried out using the available resources.


OPCON

(US, military) Acronym of operational control, command authority that may be exercised by commanders at any echelon at or below the level of combatant command.


Marxism-Leninism

Meanwhile, “Mao Zedong Thought”, which originated in the 1930s, continues rhetorically to be recognised as one of the party’s guiding principles, an extension of Marxism-Leninism tweaked for China.

2012 November 6, John Ruwitch, Benjamin Kang Lim, Ben Blanchard, Adam Jourdan, “As China enters new era, how much of Mao will stay?”, in Raju Gopalakrishnan, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-07-18, World News:

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

(politics, communism) A communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency amongst the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era, and was later adopted by the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Vietnam, and several other nations.

マルクス・レーニン主義

マルクス・レーニンしゅぎ


Reds

In reference to the ancient Roman and medieval Byzantine racing faction, a calque of Latin russātī (“Reddish-Brown-Clads”) or factio russata (“the reddish-brown-clad faction”) and Byzantine Greek Ῥούσιοι (Rhoúsioi, “Reds”).

bor

(informal, politics) Synonym of Communist Party in various contexts.


chequy

From Anglo-Norman escheké, eschequé (“chequered”), from eschec (“chess, check”). Influenced by chequ(er) + -y and check.

checky (alternative)
chequey (alternative)

Sometimes the Princess was seen conferring spiritedly with the Spongiatosta security details posted about the streets nearby, whose livery bore the ancient family arms, a sponge couchant on a field chequy with flames at the foot.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 821:

(heraldry) Chequered; divided into small squares (chequers) by transverse vertical and horizontal lines.


I approve this message

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-I approve this message.wav

the elective law passed in 2002
w:Stand By Your Ad provision

(US politics) a phrase said by candidates for federal office to show their consent to comply with the elective law passed in 2002.


man up

en-verb

man up (third-person singular simple present mans up, present participle manning up, simple past and past participle manned up)

mans up (present singular third-person)
manning up (participle present)
manned up (participle past)
manned up (past)

man + up, with influence from own up, buck up.

(military) (Of personnel) to assemble, each person manning (attending to) his station, prepared for the departure of an aircraft, ship, etc. (Compare man (“supply with staff; take up position to operate”).)


grognard

/ˈɡɹɑɡ.nɑɹd/

For quotations using this term, see Citations:grognard.

(military) A soldier or enthusiast in attention to detail for rules and regulations. Respected as an expert in things most people don’t care about.


queued

a lion rampant double-queued


Schengen

As is the case for the other Member States participating in Schengen, Greece issues, on the one hand, Schengen uniform visas, and on the other, national long-stay visas for stays exceeding three months.

2004, Imelda Higgins, Kay Hailbronner, Migration and Asylum Law and Policy in the European Union: FIDE 2004 National Reports, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 135:

(politics) The Schengen Agreement: a treaty between countries in continental Europe abolishing mutual border controls and standardizing visa policy.


air superiority

en-noun

air superiority (countable and uncountable, plural air superiorities)

(military, aviation) A dominance in the airpower of one side's air forces over the other side's during a military campaign.


running mate

running mates (plural)
running-mate (alternative)

(politics) A candidate on a joint ticket.

My first decision after being assured of victory was to choose my running mate. I decided that I needed to compensate for my lack of experience in Washington, and seriously considered Senators John Glenn, Frank Church, Scoop Jackson, Ed Muskie, and Walter Mondale.

2011, Jimmy Carter, White House Diary, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 5:

Noem’s latest justification for fatally shooting Cricket at her farm[…]comes as fellow Republicans have all but written off her chances of being chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate in November’s presidential election.

2024 May 5, Ramon Antonio Vargas, Edward Helmore, “Kristi Noem defends killing dog: ‘I’m tired of politicians pretending to be what they’re not’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(US politics) A candidate for the US vice-presidency.

ticketmate

political candidate on the same ticket or for US vice-presidency


softnose

soft-nose (alternative)
soft nose (alternative)

Questions that have arisen regarding the "stopping power" of the modern small-caliber bullet, particularly in view of the reduction of the caliber of the rifle in some services to 0.25 inch, or even less, have led to propositions to adopt soft-nose or "mushrooming" bullets, which will be deformed on striking an animate object, inflict a more dangerous wound, and increase the shock over that given by a hard bullet of the same caliber and weight, which would penetrate the body without deformation. […] The soft-nose bullet is inferior in accuracy, and is especially inferior in its ability to penetrate hard substances used for defensive purposes, making it almost useless to reach troops under cover that would be dislodged by the service bullet.

1897, “Seacoast Guns”, in Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1896, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 21:

When I got the rifle I shot a coyote in a trap, to see what effect the soft nose bullet would have. He was struck back of shoulder, and a hole torn, where bullet entered, about 3½ inches in diameter.

1898 September, A. A. Haines, “The Ideal Gun for Coyotes [letter]”, in G[eorge] O[liver] Shields, editor, Recreation, volume IX, number 3, New York, N.Y.: G. O. Shields (Coquina), →OCLC, page 216, column 1:

The soft nose bullet if it is fired and hitting any hard object, especially bone, it flattens and becomes distorted and is no longer round and has a tearing force with it.

1935 November 11, J. C. Shields, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 184:

The softnose technique involved placing an inhibitor on a blaster, which allowed a laser to travel at slower speeds, actually penetrating the target. Initially developed for mining purposes, they were quickly adapted by some greedy weapons manufacturer.

[2002, Eoin Colfer, “Cruisin’ for Chix”, in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Miramax Books; Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, →ISBN, page 35:

(firearms) Of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact, causing a large amount of damage; soft-nosed.

pehmeäkärkinen

of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact


softnose

softnose (countable and uncountable, plural softnoses)

softnoses (plural)
soft-nose (alternative)
soft nose (alternative)

The soft nose when it strikes a hard substance, mushrooms, would leave ten times as large a hole as a hard nose bullet striking the same substance. A soft nose bullet would leave a ragged edge.

1935 November 11, Clyde L. McNeil, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 215:

And get a couple of boxes of .40 caliber Glasers, too. And about a dozen boxes of .30 caliber softnoses for my SKS. You need some cash for all that?

2000, John W. Myers, “Can Your Home Fort be Defended if Attacked? Or, ‘Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition’”, in The Crossland Shootpout: Adventures of a Photojournalist, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116:

The softnoses were just as quickly outlawed, for the obvious reason that these weapons were designed to kill, and not to incapacitate.

On the upside, I guess the sniper keeps the kids home at night. They're at that age where they prefer tear-assing around town to spending time at home. Judy's 15, and that means all she thinks about is boys. Too bad for her none of her knights in shining armor have been willing to risk a .270 Winchester softnose between the eyes.

2004 October 27, William Gussie [pseudonym], “Man, I Wish that Sniper would Go Away”, in The Onion, archived from the original on 2018-03-14:

(firearms, countable) A bullet of this kind; (uncountable) bullets of this kind collectively.

pehmeäkärkinen luoti

bullet of this kind; bullets of this kind collectively


viure

Viure, Wiure, or Wyer. These terms, according to several authorities, signify a very narrow fillet, generally nebuly, which may be placed in bend, in fess, or otherwise. We can point to but one instance of such a bearing, viz. the arms of Haidon, or Haydon, of Devon: argent , three bars gemels azure , on a chief gules a viure or. This is probably nothing but a wide line nebuly.

1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 320:

[…] how are the viures to be tricked?

1863, John Gough Nichols, The Herald and Genealogist, page 91:

(heraldry, rare) A thin ribbon crossing the field in any direction.


DG

(military) Initialism of guided-missile destroyer, a type of destroyer warship.


DT

DT (countable and uncountable, plural DTs)

DTs (plural)
DT. (alternative)
Dt. (alternative)
Dt (alternative)
D/T (alternative)

(law enforcement) Abbreviation of (police) detective.


value voter

(US politics) One who participates in elections and makes decisions based on issues such as religion, abortion, capital punishment and same-sex marriage.


kaza

From Ottoman Turkish قضا (kaza, “division of a sanjak”), from Arabic قَضَاء (qaḍāʔ, “jurisdiction, court circuit”), from قَضَى (qaḍā, “to decide, to judge”).

der

(politics) A subdistrict, particularly (historical) a third-level administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.


opposition research

(politics) Negative information retrieved about a candidate's opponent in an election for use in campaigning.


Bidet

That's Joe Bidet.

1995 June 29, DDuchaine, “Steriods& Alzado”, in misc.fitness (Usenet):

Every minute it continues, it makes the aftermath problems more frightening to me," said Sen. Joe "Buckwheat" Bidet, Democrapic Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, a leftist group of foreign policy wonks, Bidet said he feels that a little careful bombing might be needed to help protect U.S. Special Forces operations, but it creates a scary problem. Bidet stressed that, like most Democratic weenies, he is afraid to challenge President Bush - but the "honeymoon' might get rockier soon."

2001 October 25, Crusader, “Steriods& Alzado”, in alt.politics (Usenet):

If Obama chose Joe Robinet Bidet for a running mate, he's not just covering his ass, he's cleaning it!

2008 August 25, Dennis, “it's Biden”, in sci.military.naval (Usenet):

Trump calls Biden (Joe BIDET) 'another low I.Q. individual' after 2020.

2019 March 18, allise...@gmail.com, “Hey Fred ! ! ! Here's you another song to enjoy ...”, in rec.radio.shortwave (Usenet):

Kamala Harris became the first woman to be given presidential powers on Friday as Joe Biden briefly transferred authority while he underwent a colonoscopy. Whether he's shitting his pants or farting on royalty, the *fake* president is usually causing a stink. Now they're even shoving cameras up his arse to prove it can talk.

2021 November 20, The Genetically Unmodified Paul Pot (Still a natural human being as God created), “Stinky Joe Bidet undergoes colonoscopy”, in alt.sports.soccer.manchester.united (Usenet):

(Internet slang, US politics, derogatory, humorous) Joe Biden.


shore leave

en-noun

shore leave (usually uncountable, plural shore leaves)

(military, nautical) Free time given to sailors of the military navy when they are off duty and allowed to disembark and spend time on land.


checks and balances

The Constitution deliberately makes the President and the Congress competitors as well as partners. The Founding Fathers created an elaborate system of checks and balances to keep each partner self-reliant while still assuring their interdependence. No brief account can fully capture the complexity of this relationship, in which each partner contributes his own share of stubbornness, pride, hostility, warmth, suspicion, skill, and affection.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, “Bite the Bullet”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 438:

(politics) A system for multiple branches of government wherein each has some control over the actions of each of the others.

政府機關彼此之間的相互制衡 /政府机关彼此之间的相互制衡

system for balancing the powers between branches of government

zhèngfǔ jīguān bǐcǐ zhījiān de xiānghù zhìhéng


aristocratical

en-adj

aristocratical (comparative more aristocratical, superlative most aristocratical)

more aristocratical (comparative)
most aristocratical (superlative)


bird colonel

From the insignia of rank, which bears a depiction of an eagle.

This month at 47, Colonel Polich retires after 20 years of service; as a reservist and an engineer, bird colonel is about the highest peacetime rank he can achieve.

1960 July 4, “Pink Is for Learning”, in Time:

(US, slang, military) A member of the United States armed forces having the rank of full colonel, as distinct from a lieutenant colonel.


full bird colonel

en-noun

full bird colonel (plural full bird colonels)

(US, slang, military) Synonym of bird colonel.


chicken colonel

chicken colonel (plural chicken colonels)

In 1944, when many of his West Point classmates—including Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower—had won general's stars, Van Fleet was still a chicken colonel commanding a regiment.

1951 May 14, “The Face Is Familiar”, in Time:

(US, slang, dated, military) Synonym of bird colonel.


surviving spouse

surviving spouse (plural surviving spouses)

(taxation, US) An unmarried taxpayer whose spouse has been deceased for less than two taxable years, and who provides a home for one or more dependents of the deceased.


CF

(Canada, military) Abbreviation of Canadian Forces.


FI

FI (countable and uncountable, plural FIs)

(law enforcement) Initialism of field interview/interrogation.


HN

(military, US, nautical) Abbreviation of hospitalman.


HU

utility helicopter
utility helicopter#English

(obsolete, US, army, aviation) prefix for utility helicopter designations


JM

(UK politics, slang) Initialism of John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1997.


LR

LR (countable and uncountable, plural LRs)

On Thursday, opponents of LR-131 argued that state government shouldn’t be interfering with how parents and medical providers navigate high-risk pregnancies and cases of fatal fetal development.

2022 October 28, Mara Silvers, “As election nears, doctors, nurses speak out against Born-Alive Infant referendum”, in Montana Free Press:

(politics) Initialism of legislative referendum.


UA

UA (countable and uncountable, plural UAs)

(military) Initialism of unauthorized absence.

unitary authority
unitary authority#English

(countable, UK, government) Initialism of unitary authority.


HB

(law, politics, often followed by a number) Initialism of house bill (“a bill proposed in or passed by a legislative house”) (Compare SB.)


JR

John Radcliffe Hospital
w:John Radcliffe Hospital

(UK, healthcare) Initialism of John Radcliffe Hospital; a large hospital in Oxford in the United Kingdom.


Reformer

(Canadian politics) A member of the Reform Party of Canada, which existed from 1987 to 2000.

(UK politics) A member or supporter of Reform UK.


trussing

Sable, a falcon or, his wings expanded, trussing a mallard argent, on a chief of the latter, a cross botoné[…]

1845, Hugh Clark, An Introduction to Heraldry ... Thirteenth edition. greatly improved, page 40:

A hawk trussing.

1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 247:

Examples of this will be found in the arms of Madden ["Sable, a hawk or, trussing a mallard proper, on a chief of the second a cross botonny gules"], and in the crests of Graham, Cawston, and Yerburgh.

1909, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry, page 242:

(heraldry, of a bird) In the act of seizing (something).


KFS

(military) Initialism of knife, fork and spoon.


cook off

en-verb

cook off (third-person singular simple present cooks off, present participle cooking off, simple past and past participle cooked off)

cooks off (present singular third-person)
cooking off (participle present)
cooked off (participle past)
cooked off (past)

(transitive, US, military) To pull the pin from a grenade and wait two or three seconds before throwing.

(transitive, US, military) As above, except to unintentionally wait so long that the grenade detonates.

(transitive, chemistry, military) To cause an accidental detonation of explosives due to excess heat.

(intransitive, chemistry, military, of explosives) To accidentally detonate as the result of excess heat.


supercharged

[...] And over all, an Inescutcheon Azure, the whole supercharged by a Saltire Argent.

1729, Abel Boyer, Le Grand théâtre de l'honneur et de noblesse [assisted by John Innes] Fr. & Eng., page 219:

The Moretuses took as their arms : Of gold with an eagle of sable charged upon his breast with a scutcheon of gules, supercharged with a star radiating with gold on a champaign checked with azure and five strokes silver.

1894, Max Rooses, Catalogue of the Plantin-Moretus Museum:

[...] is a blue cross supercharged with one of red, the whole enclosed by a blue [...]

1897, American Numismatic Society, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, page 39:


superdelegate

superdelegates (plural)
super delegate (alternative)
super-delegate (alternative)

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

From super- + delegate. Originally written super-delegate or super delegate; the former is attested since 1981.

If no candidate won on the first round (something that hasn’t happened since 1952), voting would be opened up to 739 superdelegates, who are not pledged to any candidate. These superdelegates, also known as “automatically seated delegates,” include all Democratic members of Congress and Democratic governors, as well as other party leaders.

2024 July 8, Christa Case Bryant, Caitlin Babcock, “What it would take to replace Biden on the 2024 ticket”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(US, politics) A member of the Democratic Party who has been selected to attend the national convention to help select a nominee for president.

siêu đại biểu

a member of the Democratic Party who has been selected to attend the national convention


faithless elector

en-noun

faithless elector (plural faithless electors)

(US politics) A delegate selected to participate in an electoral college and assigned to a particular candidate who votes for a different candidate, usually to protest the already-determined outcome of the vote.


national convention

national convention (plural national conventions)

(US, politics) A meeting of the major figures in a political party to outline a party platform, set party rules, select a nominee for president as well as rally supporters.

United States presidential nominating convention


Super Tuesday

(US politics) The day in February or March on which a large number of states hold their primary elections for the process of nominating presidential candidates.


HMAS

The Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (Dart)[…]accepted as true allegations of abuse made by 207 former young recruits of HMAS Leeuwin at Fremantle, Western Australia, however it stopped short of recommending a royal commission.

2014 June 17, Helen Davidson, “Blackballing and blanket beatings: decades of abuse at defence training school revealed”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(initialism, nautical, military, Australia) His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship; the designation of Australian ships and naval bases.

(initialism, nautical, military, Australia) His Majesty's Australian Ship.

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) His Majesty's Auxiliary Ship

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) Her Majesty's Auxiliary Ship

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) His Majesty's Armed Schooner

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, obsolete) Her Majesty's Armed Schooner


HMCS

(Canada, nautical, military) Initialism of His (or Her) Majesty's Canadian Ship; ship prefix of the Royal Canadian Navy.

His

(UK, nautical, military, historical) Initialism of His (or Her) Majesty's Colonial Ship.


CCGS

Canadian Coast Guard Ship
w:Canadian Coast Guard Ship

(nautical, military) Initialism of Canadian Coast Guard Ship. The designation for vessels operated by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).


live pair

(US, politics) Two members of Congress who would have otherwise cast opposing votes, but who form an agreement whereby one announces the couple is a live pair and registers his or her own vote as present rather than for or against. Although not recognized or recorded in vote tallies, the effect is to allow the other member to be absent without affecting the outcome of the vote.


UCMJ

Uniform Code of Military Justice
w:Uniform Code of Military Justice

(military, US) Initialism of Uniform Code of Military Justice.


white paper

white papers (plural)
whitepaper (alternative)
white-paper (alternative)

→ Malay: kertas putih (calque)

→ Polish: biała księga (calque)

(British, Ireland, European Union, government, politics) A parliamentary document announcing or proposing a government policy or action.


estoile

Old French, from Latin stēlla. Doublet of étoile, stella, and stelo; related to aster and star.

(heraldry) A six-pointed star whose rays are wavy, as opposed to the straight lines of a mullet.


Reaganite

en-adj

Reaganite (comparative more Reaganite, superlative most Reaganite)

more Reaganite (comparative)
most Reaganite (superlative)

/ˈɹeɪɡənaɪt/

This is a show about light and dark, and as deftly as it mimics the glaring neon of Reaganite consumer culture, it tweaks the conspiracy theories blooming in the shadows.

2019 July 4, Sophie Gilbert, “The American Paranoia of Stranger Things 3”, in The Atlantic:

(US politics) Of or pertaining to Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), 40th president of the United States (1981–1989).


Reaganite

/ˈɹeɪɡənaɪt/

(US politics) A supporter of Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), 40th president of the United States (1981–1989), and/or policies that he endorsed.


DEM

Democratic Party
w:Democratic Party (United States)

(US politics) Abbreviation of Democratic Party.


joint committee

en-noun

joint committee (plural joint committees)

(politics) In a bicameral legislative body, a decision-making entity composed of members of both houses.


idiocracy

idiocracy (countable and uncountable, plural idiocracies)

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

From idiot + -cracy. The word was coined by the writers of a 2006 movie about the topic, which some have interpreted as presaging, through caricature, the state of the world.

In trying to explain why our political paralysis seems to have gotten so much worse over the past year, analysts have rounded up a plausible collection of reasons including: President Obama's tactical missteps, the obstinacy of congressional Republicans, rising partisanship in Washington, the blustering idiocracy of the cable-news stations, and the Senate filibuster, which has devolved into a super-majority threshold for any important legislation.

2010 February 6, Jacob Weisberg, “Down With the People”, in Slate:

(humorous, politics) A government run by idiots.


knife rest

(military) A portable defensive barrier consisting of a frame covered in barbed wire.


STROG

Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar#English

(military) Acronym of Strait of Gibraltar.


TSA

Your next story of a travel pitfall the TSA isn't warning you about comes from Adam Felber.

2008 February 2, Peter Sagal, “Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!”, in National Public Radio:

(government, US) Initialism of Transportation Security Administration.


death tax

(US politics, derogatory, dysphemistic) inheritance tax


FB

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of fighter-bomber (used as a prefix)


automatic rifle

automatic rifle (plural automatic rifles)

(weaponry) A rifle that loads itself either from a belt or magazine; a machine gun. (Compare fully automatic rifles vs semi-automatic rifles.)


landslide victory

landslide victory (plural landslide victories)

Nixon capitalized on this changing tide of voting behaviour, and hence won a landslide victory in the 1972 election.

(politics) A victory by a wide margin in an election.


pavis

pavises (plural)
pavisses (plural)
pavise (alternative)
pavais (alternative)
pabys (alternative)
pavese (alternative)
pavesse (alternative)

From Middle English pavis(e) (paveis, pavas), from Anglo-Norman pavis (compare French pavois), from Latin pavensis, probably from Pavia in Italy. Compare Italian pavese.

For in this proceſſe, Parrot nothĩg hath ſurmyſed
No matter pretendyd, nor nothyng enterpryſed
But that metaphora, alegoria with all
Shall be his protectyon, his pauys and his wall

(military, history) Most usually, a very large shield fitted with a stand, like a small moveable wall, carried in front to protect all or most of the bearer's body that could be positioned independently of the user, such as a crossbowman, often with a projecting ridge running vertically down the center. However, smaller, more standard shield types were also termed as such, with the central verticle ridge as a defining feature.


military tactics

(military) The techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle.


nationalisation

nationalisation (countable and uncountable, plural nationalisations)

nationalisations (plural)
nationalization (alternative British English Oxford US)

From French nationalisation. By surface analysis, nationalise + -ation.

surf

(politics) The process of losing local and regional variation and becoming national in character and scope.


MMA

en-noun

MMA (countable and uncountable, plural MMAs)

Mark Zuckerberg shares photos from the hospital after undergoing knee surgery for a torn ACL suffered during MMA training.

2023 November 4, “Mark Zuckerberg tears ACL while training for MMA fight early next year”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

mixed martial arts
mixed martial arts#English

(martial arts) Initialism of mixed martial arts.


Cpl

(military, US) Abbreviation of corporal.


reloader

(firearms) A shooter who makes their own ammunition from separately purchased components.

(firearms) The equipment used by such a shooter, particularly a levered press used to force the components together.


DCS

DCSs (plural)
D.C.S. (alternative)
D. C. S. (alternative)

It is being led by DCS Jim Taylor, who is the head of Opal, the national intelligence unit for organised acquisitive crime.

2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

detective chief superintendent
detective chief superintendent#English

(law enforcement, Commonwealth) Initialism of detective chief superintendent, a police rank.


DFMR

(US, government) Initialism of Design for Minimum Risk: a process that allows safety-critical mechanisms to achieve fault tolerance through rigorous design, analysis, testing, and inspection practices rather than through true physical redundancy.


Number 10

No 10 (alternative)
No. 10 (alternative)
Number Ten (alternative)

There are honourable people in the government and principled advisers working in Number 10, even if their unheralded service is obscured by the crass antics of spin doctors and the demagoguery of some ministers.

2009 April 23, Bagehot, “Who's Nasty Now?”, in The Economist, page 61:

10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street#English

(UK politics) Synonym of 10 Downing Street.


reremouse

reremice (plural)
rearmouse (alternative)
reermouse (alternative)

From Middle English reremous, from Old English hrēremūs, hrœ̄remūs (“bat”). By surface analysis, rear (“to move, shake, stir”) + mouse.

surf

Argent, a reremouse sable,[…]

(rare, archaic, poetic or heraldry) A bat (flying mammal).


AGM

air-to-ground missile
air-to-ground missile#English

(military, aviation) Abbreviation of air-to-ground missile.

artillery gun module
artillery gun module#English

(military) Initialism of artillery gun module.


Airedale

Intercepting the Japs the next day, the Airedales shot down ten Zeros and two bombers.

1945, United States Navy, Power in the Pacific:

The call will go out to the pilots, "Pilots, start your engines"; to the airedales, "Stand clear of propellers." As a plane is ready for take off it will have two airedales, one at each wheel, ready to pull the wheel chocks away.

1993, Anthony F. Zollo, USS Intrepid, page 97:

(US, military, slang) A member of aviation personnel.


leashed

In the registration for William, Earl of Dundonald, 1672-78, the same person, the boars' heads are armed and langued of the field, and the supporters are collared or and leashed gules.

1881, Robert Riddle Stodart, Scottish Arms: Being a Collection of Armorial Bearings, A.D. 1370-1678, Reproduced in Fascimile from Contemporary Manuscripts, page 59:

[...] a sleuthhound proper, collared and leashed gules.

1895, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, and Being the First Attempt to Show which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, page 783:

[...] on the dexter a greyhound proper collared and leashed gules, on the sinister an ostrich proper, in its beak a horse shoe azure.

1900, The Celtic Monthly: A Magazine for Highlanders, page 169:

Supporters; Two greyhounds per fess argent and or, collared and leashed gules, suspended from the collar, a shield azure , charged with the Speaker's Mace in pale or; and each charged on the flank with a thistle proper.

1902, Lincoln's Inn (London, England), The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn, page 377:

(heraldry) Having a leash of a specified color.


go off the reservation

en-verb

go off the reservation (third-person singular simple present goes off the reservation, present participle going off the reservation, simple past went off the reservation, past participle gone off the reservation)

goes off the reservation (present singular third-person)
going off the reservation (participle present)
went off the reservation (past)
gone off the reservation (participle past)

By analogy with a member of the tribe leaving an Indian reservation.

This hand was ready to give the works to any physician, a member of the Medical Association in good standing, who'd go off the reservation by daring to serve a medical co-operative on a full-time salary.

1943, Paul De Kruif, Kaiser Wakes the Doctors, page 79:

I'll never forget 1948 when these so called "liberals" (synthetics I call them) went off the reservation and gave New York to Dewey.

1960 January 31, Harry S Truman, “Dear Joe”, in Monte M. Poen, editor, Strictly Personal and Confidential: The Letters Harry Truman Never Mailed, published 1999, →ISBN, page 137:

(US, politics) To break with one's party or group, usually temporarily.


hard money

en-noun

hard money (usually uncountable, plural hard moneys)

(US, politics) Money contributed directly to a candidate rather than to a party or committee.


LBJ

I got a letter from L.B.J,
it said, "This is your lucky day",
it's time to put your khaki trousers on.

1965, “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation”, Tom Paxton (lyrics), Tom Paxton (music):

This required a legislative program, the Great Society, that would complete the New Deal and earn LBJ a place alongside FDR in the pantheon of heroic Democratic reformers.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 2, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:

Lyndon Baines Johnson
w:Lyndon B. Johnson

(US politics) Initialism of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th US president (served 1963–1969).


CRP

The only major source whom the reporters reveal by name is Hugh Sloan, the slight young Nixon operative who resigned as treasurer of the Committee to Re-Elect the President when he learned of C.R.P.’s sordid political involvements. Sloan led the reporters onto the fact that funds for the burglary came from C.R.P.

1974 April 22, “The Press: Woodstein Meets Deep Throat”, in Time, →ISSN:

(historical, US politics) Initialism of Committee to Re-elect the President, which raised money for Richard Nixon's campaign for 1972 reelection.


revolving door

revolving doors (plural)
revolving-door (alternative)

We've had 14 Secretaries of State through the revolving door in the first 23 years of this century. And the civil servants rotate through the departments with similar speed.

2023 June 28, Anthony Smith talks to Paul Clifton, “The industry has to go back to basics”, in RAIL, number 986, page 40:

(politics) A movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators, on the one hand, and members of the industries affected by the legislation and regulation, on the other.


Thor's hammer

Thor's hammers (plural)
Thor's Hammer (alternative)

kinetic energy weapon
kinetic energy weapon

(weaponry, slang, science fiction) An orbital drop hypervelocity kinetic energy weapon (KEW). A theoretical weapon, originating from a U.S. government study, Project Thor, from the 1950s.


body snatcher

body snatchers (plural)
bodysnatcher (alternative)
body-snatcher (alternative)

From body + snatcher. Later use highly influenced by the 1955 novel The Body Snatchers and its repeated adaptation into film, wherein aliens begin replacing humans with pod people.

ligrøver

One who secretly removes without right or authority a dead body from a grave

No men could have behaved more admirably than my Imperial bearer companies, or 'body snatchers,' as the men used to call them.

1917, General Buller, quotee, Military Medicine, volume 40, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 341:

Freezing conditions in the hills make essential the quick evacuation of wounded, and their regimental mates are full of praise for the sterling job done by the cheerful, tireless “body-snatchers” of the Battalion.

1951, Great Britain. Army. Royal Army Medical Corps, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, volumes 96-97, J. Bale, Sons & Danielson, Limited, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 410:

Tom dismounted and led Toby toward a group of men standing by a stack of stretchers. “Hey, you body snatchers,” he called out. “I have a wound that needs dressing.” He tied Toby to a stretcher.

2011, Robert W. Mackay, Soldier of the Horse, TouchWood Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 185:

(British, military, slang) A stretcher-bearer.


cadetship

(military) The position, rank, or commission of cadet.


respectant

French, present participle of respecter.

The sun is surmounted on either side by two white lions, respectant and sitting on an orange scroll inscribed UTMOST OF OUR ABILITY in gold letters.

(heraldry, numismatics) Placed so as to face one another; face to face.


flottant

[…] gules; second, Azure, a sinister hand a paumee, couped, in pale, argent; third, Or, a galley, sails furled, oars in action, sable, flags flottant, gules; fourth, Argent, out of a mount in base, an oak-tree, vert[…]

1856, David MacGregor Peter, The baronage of Angus and Mearns, page 96:

[…] with tassels flottant upwards or; […]

1881, Scottish Arms, Being a Collection of Armorial Bearings A. D. 1370-1678, page 264:

[…] each surrounded by a banner flottant from the sides, the dexter flag charged with a cross, the sinister with a saltire, gules. The badge of the Order of St. Patrick is prescribed by the statutes of the Order, 28th February, 1783, wherein the saltire gules[…]

1903, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 417:


renverse

From Old French renverser. Equivalent to re- + inverse.

Samuel Coggan. Lisbon, May 19, 1712; letter to David Jeffries de Co. Round seal, a lion rampant renversé.

1877, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, page 58:

The arms [on the 1790 Gelderland duit] may be thus blazoned: Party per pale, 1. azure, a lion rampant or, armed and langued gules, 2. or, a lion rampant renverse sable, armed and langued as before.

1909, Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, page 218:

(heraldry, dated) Backwards, contourné, facing the opposite direction (sinister/dexter) than usual.


rasant

rasant fire


urinant

From Latin ūrīnāns, present active participle of ūrīnor (“I dive”).

On a chapeau gules, guarded ermine, a gurnet (fish) urinant proper.

1866, John Edwin Cussans, The Grammar of Heraldry: Containing a Description of All the Principal Charges Used in Armory, the Signification of Heraldic Terms, and the Rules to be Observed in Blazoning and Marshalling ; Together with the Armorial Bearings of All the Landed Gentry in England Prior to the Sixteenth Century, page 84:

2) gules, in bend two fish, urinant and hauriant, respectively, argent, their fins "dark azure" (sic).

1992, Donald R. Mandich, Joseph Anthony Placek, Russian Heraldry and Nobility, Dramco:

Azure, three trout interlaced in triangle: the chiefmost naiant, one urinant in bend, and one haurient in bend sinister, all argent.

2006, Encyclopedia Americana: Heart to India:

(heraldry): Of a fish: oriented vertically, with the head to base and tail to chief, as if positioned for diving.


party line

In a country where the party line controls the climate debate to the extent that a general apathy infuses the broader public, Howey and Zhao are the sudden, fresh young faces of environmental activism.

2019 September 18, Michael Standaert, “China's young climate heroes fight apathy – and the party line”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

On the evening of June 21, 1941, American Communists went to bed subject to one party line. At the sun set, Britain was fighting an imperialist war against Germany, about which the United States must remain neutral. American Communists awoke on June 22, 1941, to discover the party line abruptly changed. Hitler had invaded the Soviet Union. Now the war was a struggle between democracy and fascism, one the United States must immediately join.

2020 March 19, David Frum, “No Empathy, Only Anger”, in The Atlantic:

(politics) The official policy of a political party or other organization.


battle line

battle lines (plural)
battle-line (alternative)

"You say he is in Armstrong's rear, do you? Damn him! That's just where I have been trying to get him all day, and I'll be in his rear directly. Face your battle lines about! Armstrong, push your skirmishers forward -- crowd 'em both ways! I'm going to Starnes. You'll hear from me in about five minutes!"

1894, Dabney H. Maury, Recollections of a Virginian in the Mexican, Indian, and Civil Wars, section 17:

We did not catch them napping, but found a well-entrenched battle line confronting us.

1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Through Carnage to Joy”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, →OCLC, page 310:

That is the reason why I have asked you to take out and spread before you a map of the whole earth, and to follow with me the references which I shall make to the world-encircling battle lines of this war.

1942 February 23, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt's Fireside Chat:

1965, Hugh M. Cole, The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, Chapter XX: The XII Corps Attacks the Southern Shoulder,
The German intelligence staffs again agreed that there was no immediate threat to the Seventh Army, and that the westward advance by the Fifth Panzer Army would necessarily force the Americans to strengthen the battle line there and prohibit any thrust into the deep southern flank.

(military, army) The notional line on either side of which opposing forces are arrayed, and at which they meet in battle; a fortified line, short of the line where battle is expected, and behind which forces are arrayed; a forward line of infantry or other force, prepared for battle.

aciēs

the notional line on which forces are arrayed on either side


cage match

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling) An event in which wrestlers battle in an enclosed location, escaping over the top to win.


ouvrierism

(communism) The glorification of manual laborers, often in opposition to the leadership of labor or socialist movements.

ouvrierisme

(communism) the glorification of manual laborers


ouvrierist

(communism) Of, pertaining to, or supporting ouvrierism, the glorification of manual laborers.


ranker

ranker (countable and uncountable, plural rankers)


sailmaker

From Middle English *sayl-makere, equivalent to sail + maker. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sailmoaker, West Frisian seilmakker, Dutch zeilmaker, German Low German Seilmaker, German Segelmacher, Danish sejlmager, Swedish segelmakare.

(US, naval) An officer in the United States navy who takes charge of the sails.


ODC

(Ireland, law enforcement, informal) Initialism of ordinary decent criminal (a prisoner not associated with terrorism).


YF

Combination of prefix F and prefix modifier Y

(US, military, aviation) prototype fighter (prefix)


PF

PF (countable and uncountable, plural PFs)

(US, military, aviation) Initialism of patrol fighter.


repassant

Compare French repassant, present participle.

[...] Hee beareth, Sable, two lyoncels, the one paffant, the other repassant, Argent, both collared, Gules, but in mine opinion no man by this last blazon is able to tricke, or expresse the true portraiture and manner of the bearing of these lioncels, […]

1638, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldrie, page 194:

REPASSANT, a. [...] in her., term applied when two lions or other animals are borne going contrary ways, one of which is passant, by walking toward the dexter side of the shield in the usual way, and the other repassant by going toward the sinister.

1891, Alden's Manifold Cyclopedia of Knowledge and Language, page 23:

[…] To the right of the window is the image of a single passant repassant lion, which marches along the decorative[…]

1995, Lynn Anne Jones, Between Byzantium and Islam: Royal Iconography and the Church of the Holy Cross at Aghtamar:


cloué

For quotations using this term, see Citations:cloué.

(heraldry, of a trellis, horseshoe, etc) Studded with nails (of a specified tincture).


mushroom party

mushroom party (plural mushroom parties)

Referring to the rapid growth of mushrooms.

(politics, derogatory) A new political party that sprouts up quickly before an election, but proves to be short-lived.


masoned

(heraldry, of a building) Having the mortar and bricks of different tinctures.


affrontant

[...] an escarbuncle perse pometty argent Azure, a lion passant gardant argent Gules, two lions affrontant or Azure,[…]

2019, Roy Osborne, Renaissance Colour Symbolism, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 60:


affronté

affrontée (alternative)
affrontee (alternative)
affronty (alternative)

Borrowed from French affronté, past participle of affronter (“to confront, face”).

... viz. quarterly, first and fourth gules, on a cheveron argent, a rose betwixt two lions affronté gules, for Hepburn; second and third argent, an orle gules, and in chief three martlets sable, for Rutherford; crest, a horse[…]

1804, Alexander Nisbet, A system of heraldry, speculative and practical: with the true art of Blazon ... Illustrated with suitable examples of armorial figures, and achievements of the most considerable surnames and families in Scotland ..., page 163:

[…] earliest designs were geometric, birds affronté (facing one another), peacocks, pomegranates, unicorns, pelicans, and […]

1910, Amy Milton Kohlsaat, Old Lace Manual, page 11:

(heraldry) Face to face, or with the fronts facing each other.

The crest of SCOTLAND [ - A lion affronté gules, crowned imperially Or, in the dexter paw a sceptre erect, surmounted by a fleur de lis gold; in the[…] ]

[…]; and (5) an ostrich feather with a scroll on the quill reading “Sovereign”, supported by a lion sejeant-affronté (seated, looking towards the viewer), but with the dexter paw holding the quill (Rothery, p.202).

2010 01, Wm. E. Baumgaertner, Squires, Knights, Barons, Kings: War and Politics in Fifteenth Century England, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN:

(heraldry) Looking frontwise, or toward the viewer.


plongée

Borrowed from French plongée. See plunge.

the plongée of a parapet; the plongée of a shell in its course

(military) A slope or sloping down toward the front.


allonge

Borrowed from French allonge (“a lengthening”). Doublet of lunge.


tax lot

In some countries such as the USA, cost basis must be considered on a tax lot-by-tax lot basis.

2003, Stephen Satchell with Alan Scowcroft, Advances in Portfolio Construction and Implementation, page 128:

(accounting, taxation, US) A grouping of security holdings in an account used for enabling the calculation and treatment of the securities for tax compliance and reporting.


désintéressement

Borrowed from French désintéressement (“disinterest, detachment”).

bor+

She demanded, among other things, the whole of S. Tirol, with the boundaries of the Italian kingdom of 1811, Gorizia and Gradisca, and the conversion of Trieste with its surrounding territory into a community independent of Austria-Hungary; […] and a declaration of Austria-Hungary’s désintéressement as regards Albania.

1922, Alfred Francis Pribram, “Austrian Empire”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, 12th edition, volume 30, page 336:

P.M. said he had foreseen this, and to meet it, and stop it, had idea that we should put before France, Poland and Soviet a text of a declaration of non-désinteressement.

1939 March 19, Alexander Cadogan, edited by David Dilks, The Diaries of Sir Alexander Cadogan: 1938–45, published 1971, page 161:

The fact that the Russian government had reacted reluctantly and had apparently been surprised by the velocity of the events unfolding was interpreted as Russian désintéressement.

2015, Klaus Bachmann, “Playing on Three Levels at the Same Time – German Public Opinion and German Foreign Policy Toward the Crisis in Ukraine”, in Karol Kujawa, Valeriy Morkva, editors, 2014 Crisis in Ukraine: Perspectives, Reflections, International Reverberations, →ISBN:

He [Charles Hardinge] was therefore less inclined to be concerned about the Afghanistan question and with regard to the Near East and the Balkans considered a demonstrative policy of ‘désintéressement’ on England’s part to be the best solution.

2017, Andreas Rose, translated by Rona Johnston, Between Empire and Continent: British Foreign Policy before the First World War, →ISBN, page 38:

(diplomacy) Neutrality; renunciation of involvement or (especially territorial) ambitions.


interstage

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon

(military) The components of a multistage thermonuclear weapon which channel the radiation produced by the primary's fission explosion so as to trigger the implosion of the secondary and ignite a fusion explosion in the secondary's fusion fuel.


membered

armed

sometimes birds are described as armed instead

(heraldry, of a bird) Having legs of a different tincture from that of the body.


semé

From French semé (“sown”). Doublet of seminate and semined.

semy (alternative)
seme (alternative)
semee (alternative)
semée (alternative)
seméed (alternative)

(heraldry) Sprinkled, sown, strewn: said of a field or charge when strewn with small (identical) charges.


CON

Conservative Party
w:Conservative Party (UK)

(UK politics) Abbreviation of Conservative Party.


anticolonial

en-adj

anticolonial (comparative more anticolonial, superlative most anticolonial)

more anticolonial (comparative)
most anticolonial (superlative)

Promoters of quoc ngu were Vietnamese intellectuals who were either collaborators or anticolonial revolutionaries.

2003, Thaveeporn Vasavakul, edited by Brown & Ganguly, Fighting Words, page 223:


combattant

From Middle English combattant, from Middle French combattant. Doublet of combatant.

VISCOUNT LORTON bears gu., two lions combattant, supporting a dexter hand.

1892, Charles Boutell, Heraldry, Ancient and Modern: Including Boutell's Heraldry, page 81:

(heraldry) In fighting position; said of two lions set face to face, each rampant.


réduit

(military, historical, fortifications) a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached.

kavaljeeri

central or retired work within any other work


apella

From Ancient Greek ἀπέλλα (apélla, “assembly”).

uder

(Ancient Greece, politics) The popular deliberative assembly in the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia in most other Greek states.


cabré

From French cabré, from cabrer (“to rear up”).

[...] 2, gules, two joined hands proper, parée purple, accompanied by three stars or (two in chief, and one in base); 3, gules, a horse, cabré argent; 4, azure, a ship with three masts proper, sails inflated,[…]

1907, Cyrus Adler, Isidore Singer, The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, page 130:


chaussé

en-adj

chaussé (comparative more chaussé, superlative most chaussé)

more chaussé (comparative)
most chaussé (superlative)

Borrowing from French chaussé. Doublet of calceate.

(heraldry) Divided into three with two lines from the corners of the chief to the point in base.


rat race

rat races (plural)
rat-race (alternative)

/ˈɹæt ˌɹeɪs/

/ˈɹæt ˌɹæɪs/

(politics, business, finance) Inconsiderate or unfair competition, where the competitors are willing to use any means to win.


glissant

a serpent glissant

(heraldry) Gliding horizontally in an undulant posture.


rompu

Borrowed from French rompu, past participle of rompre to break, Latin rumpō. See rupture.

(heraldry) Broken, as an ordinary; cut off, or broken at the top, as a chevron, a bend, etc.


interpellate

en-verb

interpellate (third-person singular simple present interpellates, present participle interpellating, simple past and past participle interpellated)

interpellates (present singular third-person)
interpellating (participle present)
interpellated (participle past)
interpellated (past)

After the gentleman and Senator [Mariano Jesús] Cuenco interpellated me, I knew already that my bill was hopeless. That is why I presented that bill on February 4th, but it slept the sleep of the just in the Committee on Education.

1958 May 9, [Roseller Tarroza] Lim, “Manifestaciones del Sen. [Decoroso] Rosales”, in Republic of the Philippines Congressional Record (Senate of the Philippines), volume I, number 67, Manila, Philippines: Bureau of Printing, →OCLC, page 1343, column 1:

(transitive, chiefly politics) To question (someone) formally concerning official or governmental policy or business.

interpellere

question formally about government business


AIFV

(military) Initialism of advanced infantry fighting vehicle.

(military) Initialism of armored infantry fighting vehicle.


AMR

en-noun

AMR (countable and uncountable, plural AMRs)

anti-materiel rifle
anti-materiel rifle#English

anti-materiél rifle
anti-materiél rifle#English

(military, firearms) Initialism of anti-materiel rifle/anti-materiél rifle.


APCBC

armor piercing capped ballistic cap
w:armor-piercing shot and shell

(military) Initialism of armor piercing capped ballistic cap.


APCNR

armor-piercing composite non-rigid
w:armor-piercing shot and shell

(military) Initialism of armor-piercing composite non-rigid.


APCR

armor-piercing composite rigid
w:armor-piercing shot and shell

(military) Initialism of armor-piercing composite rigid.


ATGW

(military) Initialism of anti-tank guided weapon.


ATGM

(military) Initialism of anti-tank guided missile.


AVLB

armoured vehicle-launched bridge
w:armoured vehicle-launched bridge

(military) Initialism of armoured vehicle-launched bridge.

An armored vehicle that deploys a bridge in a motorized/automated manner.


AVRE

(British, military) Acronym of Armoured Vehicle, Royal Engineers.


chassepot

Surname of the French inventor, Antoine Alphonse Chassepot.

(military) A kind of breechloading, centre-fire rifle.


seadog

(heraldry) A charge resembling the talbot but with scales, webbed feet and a broad tail.


throwdown

throwdowns (plural)
throw-down (alternative)

Deverbal from throw down. Fight and music senses from earlier idiom throw down the gauntlet (“issue a challenge”).

(slang, wrestling) A fall, indicating defeat.


maladministration

maladministration (countable and uncountable, plural maladministrations)

maladministrations (plural)
maleadministration (alternative)
male-administration (alternative)

/ˌmælədˌmɪnɪˈstɹeɪʃn̩/

/ˌmælədˌmɪnəˈstɹeɪʃən/

PIE word
 *h₂éd
From mal- (prefix meaning ‘bad; badly’) + administration.

maladminister

probably modelled after maladministration

Near-synonyms: mismanagement, misgovernance

To combat maladministration and improve government efficiency, the ombudsman was established to function as an independent watchdog.

At noon home to dinner, and much good discourse with him [Roger Pepys], he being mighty sensible of our misery and mal-administration. Talking of these straits we are in, he tells me that my Lord Arlington [Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington] did the last week take up £12,000 in gold, which is very likely, for all was taken up that could be.

1667 June 26 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “June 16th, 1667 (Lord’s Day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, pages 372–373:

Mean vvhile, he reſumed his taſk; and having finiſhed a moſt ſevere remonſtrance against Sir Steady, not only vvith regard to his private ingratitude, but also to his male-adminiſtration of public affairs, he ſent it to the author of a vveekly paper, […]

1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “He Writes against the Minister, by whose Instigation He is Arrested, and Moves Himself by Habeas Corpus into the Fleet”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 149:

[A] vvrit of error lies from hence [the court of justice-seat] to the court of king's bench, to rectify and redreſs any mal-adminiſtrations of juſtice; […]

1768, William Blackstone, “Of Courts of a Special Jurisdiction”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book III (Of Private Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 73:

[W]hat I wanted to get at was this fact, that the liquor traffic was, through the maladministration of the Government, opened up in a community that expected to be kept free from it. The safeguards of a prohibitory law were broken down, and the resulting debauchery took place.

1893 November 3, Francis S[tephens] Spence, witness, Royal Commission on the Liquor Traffic: Minutes of Evidence […] (No. 21–1894), volume IV, part II, […] S. E. Dawson, […], published 1895, →OCLC, page 1035:

Annual auditing was a farce, and since the Chambre de Justice had fallen into disuse after 1716, judicial checks on financial maladministration were non-existent.

2003, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, pages 315–316:

(chiefly government, uncountable) Faulty, improper, or inefficient administration or management, especially by a government body; (countable) an instance of this.

سُوء إدَارَة

faulty, improper, or inefficient administration or management, especially by a government body; an instance of this


demilitarized zone

en-noun

demilitarized zone (plural demilitarized zones)

demilitarized zones (plural)
DMZ (alternative abbreviation)

(military) An area, often on a border between military factions, in which military forces and operations are prohibited. (This sense is a translation hub.)


wet work

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

Calque of Russian мо́крое де́ло (mókroje délo).

clq

мо́крое де́ло

2010, RED
Joe: Victoria was the best wet work operator the Agency ever had.
Woman 1: What does that mean?
Victoria: I killed people, dearie.

(espionage, euphemistic) A covert assassination performed by government operatives.


stylet

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

From French stylet (“stiletto”), from Middle French stilet (“stiletto”), from Old Italian stiletto. Doublet of stiletto.


armed probe

(military) A military reconnaissance mission performed with heavy combat units where hostile contact with the enemy is expected.


non-commissioned member

en-noun

non-commissioned member (plural non-commissioned members)

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(Canadian military) A members of the Canadian Forces that is not a commissioned officer; includes warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and privates.


moton

From Middle English moton, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French, compare Norman moton (“chin”), from Old French menton (“chin; mentonnière, chinguard (of a helmet)”); alternatively, compare mouton (“sheepskin”).

cog

[…], the pauldrons covered the back of the shoulders, motons were worn over a gusset of mail at the right armpit, and the elbow-plates were of large size.

1848, Herbert Haines, editor, A Manual for the Study of Monumental Brasses … in the Possession of the Oxford Architectural Society:

(military, historical) A small plate covering the armpit in armour of the 14th century and later.


licorne

From French licorne, semantic loan from Russian единоро́г (jedinoróg, literally “unicorn”), in reference to the unicorn on the coat of arms of count P. I. Shuvalov, who introduced this type of artillery piece. Doublet of unicorn.

semantic loan

But I think our new 24-pounder howitzer will be found superior to any of them, not even excepting the Russian Licorne.

1824, “Answers of Sir A. D., K. C. B. of the Royal Artillery, to some questions from Lieutenant C. D. Bengal Artillery”, in The British Indian Military Repository, volume 3:

The Russians have a howitzer denominated licorne, the bore of which is, in its whole extent, the truncated frustrum of a cone: the only field guns in the possession of the artillery at Corfu, in 1822, were Russian guns of this description.

1837, T. F. Simmons, Ideas as to the Effect of Heavy Ordnance Directed Against and Applied by Ships of War, etc.:

Essentially a hybrid between a howitzer and a gun, thus a gun-howitzer, the licorne was capable of a flatter trajectory and a longer range than the conventional howitzer.

2007, Jeff Kinard, “Eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century artillery”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact:

(historical, military) A type of muzzle-loading gun-howitzer used by the Russian Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.


ground mobile force

en-noun

ground mobile force (plural ground mobile forces)

(US, military) A communications unit and their equipment; most often in reference to satellite communications.


unsub

Further analysis may identify that the unsub has no specific schedule and has been escalating in the type of fire activity he or she is involved in.

2002, Brett Martinez, Multiple Fire Setters: The Process of Tracking and Identification, page 110:

In short, UNSUB profiling is premised on two fundamental assumptions: (1) behavioral uniformity across offenses and (2) steady associations between configurations of offense behaviors and background characteristics.

2011, Brent E. Turvey, Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, page 639:

(law enforcement) Abbreviation of unknown subject of an investigation..


donkey's ears

1916 UK, from British rhyming slang, rhyming with years, due to donkey’s ears being long.

(military, slang) A pair of scissor binoculars.


training wheel

From training (“relating to the moving of a firearm laterally so that it points in a different direction; relating to imparting and acquiring skills”) + wheel.

compound

(military, historical) A wheel forming part of the machinery of a cannon or a similar firearm which is turned to train or aim the weapon at a target.


SEU

Social Exclusion Unit
w:Social Exclusion Unit

(UK politics, historical) Initialism of Social Exclusion Unit.


first minister

first ministers (plural)
First Minister (alternative)

The Welsh first minister has defended his decision to travel to Qatar for the World Cup, saying he feels that the citizens of Wales want their country’s leader there despite concerns about human rights and working conditions.

2022 November 20, Steven Morris, “Welsh first minister defends trip to World Cup in Qatar”, in The Guardian:

Yousaf is almost certain to be confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister in a nominal vote at Holyrood on Tuesday but now has to bridge those divides by bringing the SNP’s warring wings together.

2023 March 27, Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks, “Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National party”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK politics) A leader of a devolved government such as Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.


cendrée

grey:

(heraldry, rare) Grey, ashen; the blazoning term for grey.


SSBN

(US, military, nautical) Sub-surface ballistic nuclear: a nuclear-powered submarine carrying and launching ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons.


SSGN

(US, military, nautical) Subsurface guided nuclear: a nuclear-powered submarine carrying and launching guided missiles


SSG

SSGs (plural)
S/Sgt. (alternative)
S/Sgt (alternative)
S/SGT (alternative)
S/SGT. (alternative)
SSgt (alternative)
SSgt. (alternative)
SSGT (alternative)
SSGT. (alternative)
s/sgt (alternative)
s/sgt. (alternative)
ssgt (alternative)
ssgt. (alternative)

(US military, Navy) Initialism of subsurface guided: a diesel-powered submarine carrying guided missiles.

subsurface guided

(US military, Army) Abbreviation of staff sergeant.


acracy

(politics, philosophy) In political philosophy, the negation of rule by "regency", or hierarchical "government". The absence of a "ruling class". A society with the absence of imposition or coercion; one of voluntary order.


HI-MEMS

(US, military) Initialism of hybrid insect micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS): A DARPA project to control insect locomotion by placing a mechanical system inside an insect.


MIS

w:Military Intelligence Service (United States)

(US, military) Initialism of Military Intelligence Service (United States).


active duty

Sandie, the naval officer, left work because she had been called to active duty.

(military) A state in which person in the military performs military duties on a full-time basis, as opposed to reserve, where one only occasionally performs military duties.


sheep-dip

en-verb

sheep-dip (third-person singular simple present sheep-dips, present participle sheep-dipping, simple past and past participle sheep-dipped)

sheep-dips (present singular third-person)
sheep-dipping (participle present)
sheep-dipped (participle past)
sheep-dipped (past)

(US, espionage, transitive) To formally, and usually temporarily, transfer military equipment or personnel to nonmilitary ownership for the purpose of its employment in covert action which involves less of a risk of triggering an armed conflict.


SIGINT

en-noun

SIGINT (countable and uncountable, plural SIGINTs)

(a) Intelligence.—This includes SIGINT, ELINT and their Electronic countermeasures (ECM, ECCM, ECCCM and so on).

2002, Indian Journal of Strategic Studies, volume 23, page 163:

signals intelligence
signals intelligence#English

(espionage, uncountable) Abbreviation of signals intelligence.


DCI

detective chief inspector
detective chief inspector#English

(law enforcement) Initialism of detective chief inspector, a police rank used in Commonwealth countries.


heir apparent

heir apparent (plural heirs apparent or heir apparents)

heirs apparent (plural)
heir apparents (plural)

From Middle English heier apparaunt, a calque translation of Middle French héritier apparent, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun.

[…] for Mary, though perfectly resolved against ever attaching herself to a younger brother again, was long in finding among the dashing representatives, or idle heir apparents, who were at the command of her beauty, and her 20,000l. any one who could satisfy the better taste she had acquired at Mansfield, whose character and manners could authorise a hope of the domestic happiness she had there learnt to estimate, or put Edmund Bertram sufficiently out of her head.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XVII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 345:

LeBron James, heir apparent to MJ’s throne, seems on paper like a dream trade—he stole plenty of laughs in Trainwreck a few summers ago.

2021 July 14, A. A. Dowd, “Space Jam: A New Legacy is one big, witless commercial for Warner Bros. properties”, in The A.V. Club:

(usually monarchy) Someone who will definitely inherit if surviving the one whose property is to be inherited.


MBT

MBT (countable and uncountable, plural MBTs)

main battle tank
main battle tank#English

armoured combat vehicle
armoured combat vehicle#English

(countable, military) Initialism of main battle tank (a type of armoured combat vehicle).


RCN

Royal Canadian Navy
w:Royal Canadian Navy

(Canada, military, nautical) Initialism of Royal Canadian Navy.


RAN

Royal Australian Navy
w:Royal Australian Navy

(Australia, military, nautical) Initialism of Royal Australian Navy


IJN

Imperial Japanese Navy
w:Imperial Japanese Navy

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of Imperial Japanese Navy, the navy of Imperial Japan, predecessor of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, usually in reference to WWII.


IJN

(US, military, nautical) Imperial Japanese Navy ship, informal ship prefix used for a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, usually in reference to WWII.


PLA

People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army#English

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China#English

(military) Initialism of People's Liberation Army.

The national armed forces of the People's Republic of China.

Clipping of PLAGF, the national army of the People's Republic of China.

PLAGF

Thus, despite the downfall of the conservative military leadership of Wuhan as a consequence of the center’s suppression of the Wuhan Mutiny, subsequent developments indicate an increased reliance on the institution least desirous of continued Cultural Revolution disruption—the PLA.

1971, Deborah S. Davis, “The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan”, in The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 159:

Suao is a strategic port designed to keep Taiwan’s access to maritime supply chains open in times of war, so Koh said it would also be priority targets of the PLA missiles.

2022 May 12, Minnie Chan, “Satellite images ‘suggest China is practising missile strikes on targets in Taiwan and Guam’”, in South China Morning Post, archived from the original on 2022-05-12:

Palestine Liberation Army
w:Palestine Liberation Army

(historical, politics) Initialism of Palestine Liberation Army (“a traditional army of the Palestine Liberation Organization, no longer extant”).


panarchy

panarchy (countable and uncountable, plural panarchies)

From pan- + -archy. Coined independently in many different contexts.

If everyone all at once wanted to know who won the Stanley Cup in 1968 they could have the information simultaneously; cyberspace as the site of Unamuno's panarchy, where each one is king.

2001, David Trend, Reading Digital Culture, →ISBN, page 148:

(anarchism, rare) Rule by all; a system of governance in which each person has absolute power.


stonk

Uncertain. Possibly of imitative origin. Compare stomp.

(military, slang) A heavy artillery bombardment.


stonk

en-verb

stonk (third-person singular simple present stonks, present participle stonking, simple past and past participle stonked)

stonks (present singular third-person)
stonking (participle present)
stonked (participle past)
stonked (past)

(military, slang) To unleash a heavy artillery bombardment.


Democratic

The most recent Democratic president of the United States is Joe Biden.

The vote was 54-46. The vote was mostly along party lines though Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania joined Republicans in supporting Bondi.

2025 February 4, Shania Shelton and Morgan Rimmer, “Senate votes to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general”, in CNN:

(US politics) Of, pertaining to, or supporting the Democratic Party.


IFV

infantry fighting vehicle
infantry fighting vehicle#English

(military) Initialism of infantry fighting vehicle.


infantry fighting vehicle

en-noun

infantry fighting vehicle (plural infantry fighting vehicles)

armoured combat vehicle
armoured combat vehicle

(military) An armoured combat vehicle designed to carry infantry soldiers and provide fire support for them.

مَرْكَبَةُ مُشَاةِ قِتَالِيَّة

an armoured combat vehicle designed to carry infantry

kveiti ǯaris muxluxa ǯavšanṭransṗorṭiori

ქვეითი ჯარის მუხლუხა ჯავშანტრანსპორტიორი


armoured combat vehicle

armoured combat vehicle (plural armoured combat vehicles)

armoured combat vehicles (plural)
armored combat vehicle (alternative)

Taiwan’s military showed off its latest domestically produced armoured vehicle on Thursday, the CM-34 Clouded Leopard, at a remote manufacturing site in the mountains of the central part of the island.

[2022 June 16, Ann Wang, Ben Blanchard, “Taiwan shows off latest home-made armoured vehicle”, in Robert Birsel, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-03-10, World News:

(British spelling, military) An armed and armoured military vehicle for fighting troops, which runs on wheels or caterpillar track.


ACV

ACV (countable and uncountable, plural ACVs)

(military) Initialism of armoured combat vehicle.


AFV

armoured fighting vehicle
armoured fighting vehicle#English

(military) Initialism of armoured fighting vehicle.


armoured fighting vehicle

armoured fighting vehicle (plural armoured fighting vehicles)

armoured fighting vehicles (plural)
armored fighting vehicle (alternative US)

(military) An armed and armoured military vehicle which runs on wheels or caterpillar track, used by fighting troops.


armoured car

armoured cars (plural)
armored car (alternative)

armoured fighting vehicle
armoured fighting vehicle

(military) A small wheeled armoured fighting vehicle.

(law enforcement) An armoured vehicle resistant to small arms fire.

警用裝甲車 /警用装甲车

(law enforcement) armoured vehicle resistant to small arms fire


tank destroyer

tank destroyers (plural)
tank-destroyer (alternative rare)

(military) An armoured fighting vehicle equipped with an antitank gun or missile launcher.


tankette

(military, historical) An early, very small, lightly armoured tank, with a crew of one or two, equipped with machine guns.


flying circus

Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1), the Red Baron's Flying Circus

(military, aviation, historical) A German fighter wing in World War I.


Red Baron

From Red Baron, nickname of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, who flew a red fighter.

Do you think you're the next Red Baron?

Billy Bishop was the Canadian Red Baron

He's another Red Baron

(idiomatic, aviation, military) A hotshot fighter pilot; an ace fighter pilot.


Immelmann turn

Named after the German pilot Max Immelmann.

(military, aviation, archaic) A WWI-era fighter pilot maneuver resembling the aerobatic wingover or hammer-head turn, originally developed by Max Immelmann.


penetrator

(military) A long-range fighter aircraft designed to penetrate enemy air defences.


AH

(US, military, aviation) prefix for attack helicopter, helicopter gunship designations


ray-gun

(science fiction, weaponry) Alternative spelling of ray gun.


social democrat

social democrat (plural social democrats)

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

(politics) A supporter of social democracy, a political ideology in which a socialist system of government is achieved by democratic means.


at ease

Calque of Old French a eise, from a (“at”) + eise (“ease”).

(military, marching) In a relaxed position with the feet apart rather than at attention.

At this command, the soldiers will carry their firelocks as they please, as prescribed in the soldier's drill, No 120, and are no longer required to march with the same step, or to observe silence ; the files will march at ease ; but they will be careful not to confuse the ranks, and the front rank must never pass before the guide, who is on the directing side, and that the two last ranks always preserve about three feet distance from each other.

1809, William Duane, The American military library:

If the column be composed of a considerable number of battalions, the commander can march it at ease, as a column of route.

1821, Pierce Darrow, Winfield Scott, Scott's Militia Tactics, page 133:

When marching at ease, you must march in orderly ranks in silence, but you need not keep step or march at attention.

1984, Wayne R. Gustafson, Military requirements for petty officer third class, page 3-28:

(military, marching) Allowed to refrain from being in rigid formation.

稍息

(military) allowed to refrain from rigid formation


RATO

RATO (countable and uncountable, plural RATOs)

(UK, aviation, military) Initialism of rocket-assisted takeoff, an auxiliary rocket engine in a detachable unit that provides extra power for the takeoff of an aircraft.


Kilroy was here

(military, c. 1940s) Inserted in the manner of graffiti in many remote and difficult-to-access locations to mark the presence of American workers or military personnel.


combat armor suit

combat armor suit (plural combat armor suits)

combat armor suits (plural)
combat armour suit (alternative)

(military) a powered, armed and armored exoskeleton, in fiction and military research


railway gun

(military) A massive and heavy mobile artillery gun, built, transported by, and fired from a specially designed rail car.

(military) An ironclad railway wagon with turrets mounted on it, as part of an armoured train.


autonomism

The village-like clusters making up Jewish Birobidzhan are only passingly described, the geopolitical motivations for the region’s creation are never fleshed out and the influence of the noted historian and ideologue of Jewish autonomism Simon Dubnow is repeatedly mentioned but left undiagnosed.

2016 July 11, Steven J. Zipperstein, “Masha Gessen on a Planned Jewish Homeland in Soviet Russia”, in The New York Times:

(politics) A set of anti-authoritarian left-wing political and social movements originating from Italy in the 1960s.

(politics) A political doctrine which supports acquiring or preserving political autonomy of a nation or a region.


TEWT

(military) Acronym of Tactical Exercise Without Troops: a wargame or training exercise not involving deployment of troops.


CCF

ccf (alternative)
Ccf (alternative)
C.C.F. (alternative)
C. C. F. (alternative)

(Canadian politics, historical) Initialism of Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.


mess kit

Meronym: mess jacket

(military) A formal uniform, worn for occasions such as mess dinners.


prog

prog (countable and uncountable, plural progs)

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


omg

(chiefly Internet, slang) Alternative form of OMG:


smoothbore

(firearms) A cannon, gun or other firearm that has an unrifled barrel.


unrifled

(firearms) Having a bore with a smooth interior, i.e. one that has not been rifled


press avail

Shortening of press availability, itself a shortening of "press availability session". First recorded in early 1990s.

"There won't be a press avail," she explained briskly about Clinton's first stop at - where else - the Italian Market. "It'll basically be a photo op."

1992 April 18, Craig R. McCoy, “A Campaign Juggernaut Jaunts Through Phila.”, in Philadelphia Inquirer, page A4:

press availability
press availability#English

(US, politics, journalism) Clipping of press availability.


press availability

press availability (plural press availabilities)

Shortening of "press availability session." Originally synonymous with press conference.

I was told that there was a request for press availabilities.

1974 June 5, Carl B. Leubsdorf, quoting Ronald Reagan, “Reagan Puts Presidential Ambitions 'Between Lines'”, in The Lima News, page B12:

Mrs. Clinton rarely holds press availabilities or takes questions from reporters who cover her campaign.

2007 November 3, Christina Bellantoni, “Hillary criticized for press strategy”, in Washington Times, archived from the original on 2008-02-14:

(US, politics, journalism) An event at which a politician is made available for questioning by the media.


press gaggle

By analogy with a gaggle of goose. First recorded in the briefing sense in the early 2000s.

In 20 years of journalism, I'd never seen a public official do what McGreevey did when asked a question he didn't want to answer at a press gaggle after a public event […]

2004 November 15, Herb Jackson, “Codey can expect a cozy honeymoon”, in The Record, Bergen County, New Jersey:

(US, journalism, politics) An informal off-camera briefing given by a spokesperson or politician.


silovik

From Russian силови́к (silovík), from си́ла (síla, “force”) + adjective suffix -ов (-ov, “-able/-ible”) + agent suffix -ик (-ik, “-ist, -er”), adjective: силово́й (silovój, “of or related to force”).

[T]he so-called siloviki have installed themselves deep inside the country’s boss class – something that did not happen to anything like the same degree during the Cold War.

2023, Robert Service, “The Misinformation Game”, in Literary Review, number 520:

intelligence service
intelligence service

(politics) A member of the Russian military, law enforcement, or intelligence services (the KGB or FSB), or a politician with a background in such services.

ուժային

former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)


archconservative

(US, politics) A person who is extremely politically conservative; a superconservative; a radical rightwinger

arquiconservador

a person who is extremely politically conservative


Nakba

the Nakba (canonical)
nakba (alternative)
Nacba (alternative)
Naqba (alternative)
Al-Nakba (alternative)

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Borrowed from Arabic نَكْبَة (nakba, “catastrophe, disaster”), from نَكَبَ (nakaba, “to make miserable”).

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That al-Husayni [Amin al-Husseini]'s political career has not received balanced and impartial treatment is, of course, not remarkable in view of the passion his name has always inspired. Some Arab biographers have lauded him and his cause, seeking to absolve him of any responsibility for the 1948 nakba, while Jewish nationalists vilify him and discredit his movement.

1992, Philip Mattar, “An Overview and Assessment”, in The Mufti of Jerusalem: Al-Hajj Amin al-Husayni and the Palestinian National Movement, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 140:

The ongoing Nakba (the Catastrophe) perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians since 1948 is characterized by a new form of Apartheid, including elements of the crime of Apartheid as defined in the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (Apartheid Convention), colonialism and other forms of extreme racism practiced by Israel in the OPTs [Occupied Palestinian Territories].

2002 January 31 (date received), Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, “Written Statement Submitted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a Non-governmental Organization in Special Consultative Status”, in United Nations, archived from the original on 2023-12-14:

Indeed, violence broke out in the occupied territories in mid-May 2000 as Palestinians observed the anniversary of the 1948 nakba—these disturbances paled in comparison to the second intifada, which erupted in the autumn.

2007, Sumantra Bose, Contested Lands: Israel–Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 262:

Ever since the 1948 nakba, Arab thinkers and intellectuals have been studying the causes of their condition and recommending ways for changing or improving it.

2008, Nissim Rejwan, “The Difference Israel has Made”, in Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 149:

Dr. Erakat reiterated that the Palestinian Nakba continues to this day, as Israeli practices and policies of evictions, home demolitions, deportations, settlement activities, wall building, as well as closure and siege in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip generate new waves of displaced persons.

2010 May 14, Saeb Erakat, quotee, “Erakat: ‘The Catastrophe Continues’ after 62 Years”, in Wafa News Agency, archived from the original on 2024-12-11:

FNJ [Friday Night Jews at Brown University] began as an informal Shabbat dinner gathering in 2016, as a space for Jewish students who were feeling fed up with Hillel [International]'s limitations regarding Israel/Palestine discourse, after the Brown/RISD Hillel rescinded sponsorship of a film screening by the Israeli nonprofit Zochrot, an organization that educates Jewish Israelis about the Nakba.

2019 July 3, Jess Schwalb, “Red Line Rebellion”, in Jewish Currents, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Jewish Currents, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-01-20:

Speaking as he met US secretary of state Anthony Blinken in Jordan, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said a "forced displacement" would amount to a "second Nakba", or catastrophe.

2023 October 14, “Residents flee Gaza City in fear”, in FT Weekend, London: Financial Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

(politics) The dispossession of land and other property, destruction of society, and suppression of culture and political rights experienced by Palestinian Arabs occuring since the 1948 Palestine war and establishment of the State of Israel.

Nakba

巴勒斯坦人大逃亡 (bālèsītǎnréndàtáowáng, literally “great exiling of the Palestinian people”)

48 Arab

(Palestinian slang) Arab who resides within Israel


chicken wing

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(wrestling) A particular wrestling move.

(firearms) A 20th-century shooting stance where the two elbows are positioned inline with the neck.


trocha

(military, Latin America) A line of fortifications, usually rough, constructed to prevent the passage of an enemy across a region.


disengagement

en-noun

disengagement (countable and uncountable, plural disengagements)

(military, politics) Withdrawal from combat, confrontation, or the assertion of influence.

There was a quick flash, a disengagement, a feint, a lunge that was like a man's, and as her long left arm shot out like lightning, her foil bent nearly double.

1895, Francis Marion Crawford, chapter 23, in Taquisara:

(fencing) A circular movement of the blade that blocks an opponent's parry.


tank park

In the carnage of that first summer the Red Army had lost its entire tank park of nearly twenty thousand.

1965, Alan Clark, Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45,, Harper Perennial, published 1985, →ISBN, page 189:

(military, metonymic) The tank inventory of a country or army.


zipperhead

From zipper + head. From the leather helmets formerly used by early Canadian armoured crewmen, with a pattern of stitching resembling a zipper. There is also a folk etymology referring to the zippers on armoured-vehicle crew suits (repurposed flight suits).

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(Canada, military slang) A soldier in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps or in the Armoured Crewman military trade.


zipperhead

1960s–1970s, zipper + head. Used by soldiers during the Korean and Vietnam Wars; multiple hypotheses exist as to the specific origin. One is that if an East Asian person were shot in the middle of the forehead with a machine gun, the head would split as if being unzipped; another is that the appearance of tire or tank tracks on a body which had been run over by a military Jeep or tank resembled a zipper.

(US, military slang, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A person of East Asian descent.


sanglant

BERSANTER , or BERSAWTER, ar. three boars' heads sanglant, sa.

1830, Thomas Robson (engraver.), The British herald, or Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry of Great Britain & Ireland:

The couchant lion armed and langued, with his paw upon the open book, is indeed, the crest; but what a shield — Tincture upon tincture; azure: a cross sanguine, with a lamb sanglant in the dexter chief!

1843, The British Magazine and Monthly Register of Religious and Ecclesiastical Information, Parochial History, and Documents Respecting the State of the Poor, Progress of Education, &c, page 38:

Crest—A falcon, wings elevate or, belled gu., preying upon a wing, arg., sanglant, ppr.

1853, Bernard Burke, Index to Burke's dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, page 162:

A large shield, in the centre whereof was depicted / A hand lately severed, - the artist, addicted / ('Twas De Rodon bimself) to pre-Raphaelite rules, / Had made the wrist "sanglant" with drops from it "gules."

1855, Francis Edward Smedley, Mirth and metre by F.E. Smedley and E.H. Yates, page 69:


plausible deniability

Originally CIA jargon from the 1950s, and popularized during the Watergate scandal (1970s).

Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North may have added a memorable phrase to the lexicon of political obfuscation at the Iran-contra hearings when he referred to his concern for "plausible deniability" as he carried out his covert activities.

1987 July 16, Meyer Rangell, “Letters: Deniable Plausibility?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-06-08:

Americans would stand out in the Laotian jungle, and Washington needed to retain plausible deniability. CIA officials demanded that Laotians on their payroll carry out the mission.

2001 June 24, Douglas C. Waller, “The Americans Left Behind”, in Time, retrieved 2015-06-08:

No longer is plausible deniability acceptable, either for boards or for management. Corporate and nonprofit boards alike are expected to know of problems that are brewing deep within their organizations.

2014 October 8, Davia Temin, “The Role Of Boards In Crisis”, in Forbes, retrieved 2015-06-08:

(politics, business, military, espionage) The organization of clandestine activity in such a way that knowledge of its existence may be denied by those in authority.


PMO

PMO (countable and uncountable, plural PMOs)

Provost Marshall Office
Provost Marshall Office

Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister's Office#English

(government, Canada, Australia, Singapore) Initialism of Prime Minister's Office; The Office of the Prime Minister, composed of the prime minister and his or her top political staff.


DDP

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

Diamond Dallas Page
w:Diamond Dallas Page

(professional wrestling) Initialism of Diamond Dallas Page.


CWO

chief warrant officer
w:chief warrant officer

(military, rank) Initialism of chief warrant officer.


tai chi

tai chi (usually uncountable, plural tai chis)

tai chis (plural)
taichi (alternative)
tai-chi (alternative)
taiji (alternative)

From Mandarin 太極／太极 (tàijí), Wade–Giles romanization: tʻai⁴-chi². Doublet of taegeuk.

zh-l

太極／太极 (tàijí)

Participants perform Tai Chi at a square in Jiefang District during a worldwide Tai Chi activity on October 18, 2015, in Jiaozuo, Henan Province.

2016 March 31, Alan Taylor, “More of the Chinese Art of the Crowd”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 2016-04-05:

(martial arts) A soft form of martial art developed in China.