bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

(heraldry) One of the ordinaries in heraldry; a diminutive of a fess.


detriment

en-noun

detriment (countable and uncountable, plural detriments)

From Old French detriement, from Latin detrimentum (“loss, damage, literally a rubbing off”), from dēterere (“to rub off, wear”), from dē- (“down, away”) + terere (“to rub”).
Detriment is based off the word deter, and built on similar foundations to the word impediment.

der

Argent, a Moon in her detriment or Eclipse Sable[…]

1693, Richard Blome, The Art of Heraldry … second edition, page 110:

Moon in its Detriment, or Wane

1729, Abel Boyer, Le Grand théâtre de l'honneur et de noblesse (overall work in French and English), page 105:

Argent; a Moon in her detriment, Sable. This word is used in heraldry to denote her being eclipsed.

1797, Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 457:

When sable, the moon is said to be in her detriment.

1845, Edward Smedley, Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, page 610:

(heraldry, of the moon) The position or state of being eclipsed, entirely dark (sable).


zoo

Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology. Sense 5: clipping of zoophile or zoophilia.

I'm not all that unhappy about being out on an actual patrol, but there's a worried feeling wandering around the back of my mind, not exactly fear, more like a sort of lurking anxiety at being out in the dreaded jungle, the zoo, where the enemy hides.

2013, E. E. "Doc" Murdock, My Vietnam War (page 152)


Mountie

(Canada, informal, law enforcement) A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

(Canada, informal, historical, law enforcement) A member of the North West Mounted Police

(US, informal, law enforcement) A law officer, particularly one patrolling rural highways.


cross

→ Japanese: クロス (kurosu)

From Middle English cross, cros, from Old English cros (“rood, cross”), from Old Norse kross, from Old Irish cros, from Latin crux (crucī). In this sense displaced native Middle English rood, from Old English rōd; see rood. Compare Welsh croes, Irish crois.
The sense of "two intersecting lines drawn or cut on a surface; two lines intersecting at right angles" without regard to religious signification develops from the late 14th century.
Cognates
*Icelandic kross (“cross”)
*Faroese krossur (“cross”)
*Norwegian Nynorsk kross, kors (“cross”)
*Danish kors (“cross”)
*Swedish kors (“cross”)
*North Frisian kross, korss (“cross”)
*Saterland Frisian Krjuus, Kjus (“cross”)
*West Frisian krús (“cross”)
*Dutch kruis (“cross”)
*German Low German Krüüz (“cross”)
*German Kreuz (“cross”)

(heraldry) Any geometric figure having this or a similar shape, such as a cross of Lorraine or a Maltese cross.

(boxing) A hook thrown over the opponent's punch.


cohort

From Latin cohors (stem cohort-); borrowed into Old English as coorta, but reintroduced into Middle English as cōhort and chōors via Old French cohorte. Doublet of court.

Holonym: legion

Meronyms: maniple, century

Three cohorts of men were assigned to the region.

But he lost the whole of his first cohort and the centurion of the first line, a man of high rank in his own class, Asinius Dento, and the other centurions of the same cohort, as well as a military tribune, Sext. Lucilius, son of T. Gavius Caepio, a man of wealth, and high position.

1900, Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by Evelyn Shuckburgh, Letters to Atticus, section 5.20:

The cohort in which he was centurion was probably the Cohors II Italica civium Romanorum, which a recently discovered inscription proves to have been stationed in Syria before a. d. 69.

1908, F. Bechtel, “Cornelius”, in Charles G[eorge] Herbermann, Edward A[loysius] Pace, Condé B[enoist] Pallen, Thomas J[oseph] Shahan, John J[oseph] Wynne, editors, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, volume IV (Cland–Diocesan), New York, N.Y.: Robert Appleton Company, →OCLC, page 375, column 2:

But here it is as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every man of the Legions by forced marches to the help of the Empire. Leave not a cohort in Britain.' These are my orders.

1910, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Last of the Legions:

(historical, Ancient Rome, military) Any division of a Roman legion, normally of about 500 or 600 men (equalling about six centuries).


SNAFU

The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view.

(military, slang, euphemistic) Acronym of situation normal, all fucked up /situation normal, all fouled up.


shanghai

en-verb

shanghai (third-person singular simple present shanghais, present participle shanghaiing, simple past and past participle shanghaied or shanghai'd)

shanghais (present singular third-person)
shanghaiing (participle present)
shanghaied (participle past)
shanghaied (past)
shanghai'd (participle past)
shanghai'd (past)
shanghae (alternative)
shangeye (alternative)

1871, from the important Chinese port Shanghai, as a verb with reference to the former practice by some shippers on the West Coast of the United States of press-ganging crews for fishing or shipping in the Pacific Ocean.

強迫 /强迫

to force or trick into work, especially joining a ship

(transitive) To force or trick someone to go somewhere or do something against their will or interest, particularly

(US law enforcement slang) To trick a suspect into entering a jurisdiction in which they can be lawfully arrested.

“Why, if you so loved and cherished the armed guard,” Captain Banning continued, “did you arrange for transfer?”
“I never, sir! ... But he shanghaied me out of the armed guard pronto.”

There was a urologist for his urine, a lymphologist for his lymph, an endocrinologist for his endocrines, a psychologist for his psyche, a dermatologist for his derma; there was a pathologist for his pathos, a cystologist for his cysts, and a bald and pedantic cetologist from the zoology department at Harvard who had been shanghaied ruthlessly into the Medical Corps by a faulty anode in an I.B.M. machine and spent his sessions with the dying colonel trying to discuss Moby Dick with him.

(US military slang) To transfer a serviceman against their will.


tap

The noun is derived from Middle English tappe (“hollow device for controlling the flow of liquid from a hole, cock, faucet, spigot; hole through which the liquid flows; the liquid which thus flows”), from Old English tæppa, from Proto-West Germanic *tappō, from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“a plug, tap; peg; tapering stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂p- (“to lose; to sacrifice”). Doublet of tapa.
The verb is derived from Middle English tappen (“to obtain (liquid, chiefly liquor) from a tap; to obtain and sell (liquor)”), from Old English tæppian (“to provide (a container) with a stopper; to obtain (liquid) from a tap”), and then either:
* from Old English tæppa (see above) + -ian (suffix forming verbs); or
* from Proto-Germanic *tappōną, from *tappô (noun) (see above).
Verb sense 1.3.5 (“to turn over (a playing card or playing piece) to remind players that it has already been used in that round”) alludes to the abilities or resources of the card or piece having been drawn on to the point of temporary exhaustion: see verb sense 1.3.2.

inh

(communication, chiefly law enforcement)

A device used to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications.

salakuuntelulaite

telephone tap

It is true—and undisputed—that, in the weeks between the 2016 election and Trump's inauguration, several top Obama administration officials asked the National Security Agency to reveal the identity of an American citizen overheard on phone taps speaking with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak—a request known as "unmasking."

2020 May 14, Fred Kaplan, “‘Obamagate’ wasn’t even a Scandal the First Time”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-30:

A secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; also, a recording of such a communication.

подслу́шване

secret interception of telephone calls or other communications using such a device; recording of such a communication


tap

en-verb

tap (third-person singular simple present taps, present participle tapping, simple past and past participle tapped)

taps (present singular third-person)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)
tapped (past)
tap (infinitive)
tap (first-person present singular)
tapped (first-person past singular)
tap (present second-person singular)
tappest (archaic present second-person singular)
tapped (past second-person singular)
tappedst (archaic past second-person singular)
taps (present singular third-person)
tappeth (archaic present singular third-person)
tapped (past singular third-person)
tap (plural present)
tapped (past plural)
tap (present subjunctive)
tapped (past subjunctive)
tap (imperative present)
tapping (participle present)
tapped (participle past)

точа

to draw off (a liquid) from a container or other source; to draw off a liquid from (a container or other source)

They can’t tap the phone without a warrant.

mitchener. Why didn't you telephone? / balsquith. They tap the telephone. Every switchboard in London is in their hands, or in those of their young men.

1909, [George] Bernard Shaw, Press Cuttings: A Topical Sketch […], London: Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 3:

On 3 May the Government decided to take over the Telephone Exchange, which had been operated since the beginning of the war mainly by C.N.T. workers; it was alleged that it was badly run and that official calls were being tapped.

1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XI, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC, pages 160–161:

"Oh, there is one thing," the Minister called after Lebel, "how did you know to tap the telephone line of Colonel Saint-Clair's private apartment?" Lebel turned in the doorway and shrugged. "I didn't," he said, "so last night I tapped all your telephones. Good day, gentlemen."

1971 August 6, Frederick Forsyth, “Anatomy of a Kill”, in The Day of the Jackal, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 347:

Ever worry about shadowy forces tapping your phone calls and listening in on your private conversations? Well, astronomers have some good news for you: it won't be aliens with their ears (or whatever auditory sensory organs they have evolved) to the speaker getting into your business—unless they've done a lot better than we have at funding radio astronomers.

2023 May 23, “Is E.T. Eavesdropping on Our Phone Calls?”, in Scientific American, New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-03:

(communication, chiefly law enforcement) To connect a listening and/or recording device to (a communication cable or device) in order to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications; also, to secretly listen in on and/or record (a telephone call or other communication).

подслушвам

to connect a listening and/or recording device to (a communication cable or device) in order to listen in secretly on telephone calls or other communications; to secretly listen in on and/or record (a telephone call or other communication)


tap

en-noun

tap (countable and uncountable, plural taps)

The verb is derived from Middle English tappen, teppen (“to give (something) a knock or tap; to hit (something) lightly, pat, tap”), either:
* imitative of the making of a tapping sound; or
* from Old French tapper, taper (“to tap”) (modern French taper), from Frankish *tappōn, *dabbōn (“to strike”), or from Middle Low German tappen, tapen (“to rap, strike, tap”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dab- (“to strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰebʰ- (“to beat, strike; to stun; to be speechless”). Doublet of dab.
Verb sense 1.1.1 (“to arrest (someone)”) and sense 1.6 (“to choose or designate (someone) for a duty, etc.”) allude to a police officer or other person tapping someone on their shoulder to catch their attention or to select them.
The noun is derived from Middle English tap, tappe (“light blow or hit”), and then either:
* from Middle English tappen (verb) (see above); or
* from Old French tape (“light slap or touch, pat”) (modern French tape), from tapper, taper (verb) (see above).
Cognates
* German tappen (“to fumble; to grope”)
* Icelandic tappa, tapsa, tæpta (“to tap”)

der

(firearms, slang) A shot fired from a firearm.


primary

/ˈpɹaɪˌmɛɹi/

Borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first (rank); chief, principal; excellent”), from prīmus (first; whence the English adjective prime) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French primaire, primer, and premier. Doublet of premier.

bor+

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon

(military) The first stage of a thermonuclear weapon, which sets off a fission explosion to help trigger a fusion reaction in the weapon's secondary stage.


primary

en-verb

primary (third-person singular simple present primaries, present participle primarying, simple past and past participle primaried)

primaries (present singular third-person)
primarying (participle present)
primaried (participle past)
primaried (past)

/ˈpɹaɪˌmɛɹi/

In the New England town where he ran a “couple of night clubs” . he was “primarying the mayor."

1974, Stan Steiner, The Islands: the Worlds of the Puerto Ricans, page 191:

What political facts of life underpin the hopes and dreams of democratic politicians who would take on the awesome task of “primarying” a two-term incumbent governor

1980, Empire State Report, volumes 6-7, page 303:

Each of the past few election cycles has featured at least one instance of “primarying,” a challenge to an incumbent on the grounds that he or she is not sufficiently partisan.

2014, Sanford L. Jacobs, The Little Black Book of Political Wisdom:

The ad calls for loyal Tea Party members to step forward and run against all eighty-seven of the traitors in order to primary them.

2014, Uncle Sam, How Fox News KO'd The Republican Party:

These instances of “primarying,” according to many, make Congress more partisan and extreme.

2014, Robert G. Boatright, Congressional Primary Elections, page 8:

According to Boatright, 774 instances of challengers “primarying” sitting House incumbents occurred between 1970 and 2010.

2017, Aaron S. King, Unfolding Ambition in Senate Primary Elections, page 19:

Democrats have made “primarying” a key technique for shifting the balance of power in Congress to the left.

2019, Lawrence Lessig, They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy:

In the last midterm election, every member of Congress who was defeated in a primary lost to a candidate who was more ideologically extreme. The message that sends to every other member is clear: If you work across the aisle to solve problems, prepare to be primaried and potentially defeated.

2020 August 7, Marc Merrill, Kathryn Murdoch, “How philanthropy could fix America’s broken politics”, in Fortune:

Richard Hopkins, an epidemiologist who spent 19 years at the Florida Department of Health, told the Post, in reference to DeSantis administration officials, “They keep hoping it’s going to go away by itself. I don’t know what’s going on -- whether they’re afraid that they will get primaried by someone to their right if they take appropriate public health action.”

2020 July 28, Steve Benen, “DeSantis' response panned as 'divorced from scientific evidence'”, in MSNBC:

Trump has most Republican congressmen leery of opposing him on any issue, mainly out of fear of getting "primaried" by a Trump loyalist.

2020 August 11, Joe Traynor, “COMMUNITY VOICES: The test is coming for Republicans”, in The Bakersfield Californian:

“My message to Kevin McCarthy is, take all of her committee assignments away … also, don’t support her when she runs for re-election again and try to get her primaried. If you say this is not your party, actually call it out and hold her accountable,” Hogg told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day.”

2021 January 28, Chandelis Duster, quoting David Hogg, “Parkland shooting survivor calls for House GOP leader to denounce Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene”, in CNN:

(US, politics, transitive, intransitive) To challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.


veep

From a colloquial or humorous pronunciation of the abbreviation VP.

She’s running for veep.

So the veep becomes the peep [president] and picks a new veep who must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.

2020 October 12, CGP Grey, 1:01 from the start, in Being President: Most Deadly Job in America, archived from the original on 2024-07-26:

(US politics, informal) The Vice President of the United States; the office of Vice President of the United States, especially during an election cycle where several are in the running for the nomination.


fan

fan (third-person singular simple present fans, present participle fanning, simple past and past participle fanned)

fans (present singular third-person)
fanning (participle present)
fanned (participle past)
fanned (past)

Inherited from Middle English fan, inherited from Old English fann (“a winnowing, fan”), derived from Latin vannus (“fan for winnowing grain”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
*Latin ventus (“wind”)
*Dutch wan (“winnowing basket”)
*German Wanne (“winnowing basket”)
*Swedish vanna (“a fan for winnowing”)
*Old English windwian (“to fan, winnow”).
More at winnow.

der+

Audio (Southern England)

To fan a single action revolver, hold down the trigger and strike the hammer repeatedly with a free hand.

2011, Hans-Christoan Vortisch, GURPS Tactical Shooting, page 14:

(firearms, transitive) To perform a maneuver that involves flicking the top rear of an old-style gun.

thumbing

to firing a revolver by holding trigger and hitting hammer


strong

en-adj

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

stronger (comparative)
strongest (superlative)
strang (alternative)
stronk (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: tranga

Aukan: taanga

Saramaccan: taánga

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang, from Proto-West Germanic *strang, from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin stringō (“tighten”).

cog

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

a strong position


vanguard

Earlier forms included vandgard and (a)vantgard with or without aphetism, derived from Old French avan(t)garde (“before guard”). Doublet of avant-garde and vaward.

der

They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.

1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC, page 35:

(military) The leading units at the front of an army or fleet.


firefighter

From fire + fighter. Created as a gender-neutral term for fireman and firewoman.

(firefighting) A person who has been trained to put out fires.


limb

From Middle English lyme, lim, from Old English lim (“limb, branch”), from Proto-West Germanic *limu, from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). Cognate with Old Norse limr (“limb”).
The spelling with the silent unetymological -b first arose in the late 1500s. Compare crumb.

(archery) The part of the bow, from the handle to the tip.


volt

(archaic, fencing) A sudden movement to avoid a thrust; a parry.


shadow

en-noun

shadow (countable and uncountable, plural shadows)

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sċeaduwe, sċeadwe, oblique form of sċeadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots scaddow, schaddow (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad (“shade, shadow”), Dutch schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shadow, shade”), Norwegian skodde (“fog, mist”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-).

cog

(UK, law enforcement) A trainee, assigned to work with an experienced officer.


shadow

en-adj

shadow (comparative more shadow, superlative most shadow)

more shadow (comparative)
most shadow (superlative)

(Commonwealth, politics) Part of, or related to, the opposition in government.

The shadow cabinet cannot agree on the terms of the agreement due immediately after they are sworn in.

The insurgents’ shadow government is being crippled by the federal military strikes.

(US, politics) Acting in a leadership role before being formally recognized.


drone

→ Asturian: dron

→ Dutch: drone

→ Italian: drone

→ Punjabi: ਡ੍ਰੋਨ (ḍron)

→ Polish: dron

→ Portuguese: drone

→ Spanish: dron

From Middle English drane, from Old English drān, from Proto-West Germanic *drānu, from Proto-Germanic *drēniz, *drēnuz, *drenô (“an insect, drone”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n- (“bee, drone, hornet”). Cognate with Danish drone (“drone”), Dutch dar (“male bee or wasp”), German Drohne, dialectal German Dräne, Trehne, Trene (“drone”), Low German drone (“drone”), Swedish drönje, drönare (“drone”).
The etymology of the sense of "remote-controlled aircraft" is disputed; theories include early military UAVs dumbly flying on preset paths.

inh

The Apex boat is a small radio-controlled craft which tows, at an angle, two Drone boats. The latter are small craft filled with explosives to be detonated from the control radio of the Apex boat.

1946, Seventh United States Army in France and Germany, Report of Operations, volume 1, page 73:

Firefish, a drone boat, is the second radio-controlled target used by the detachment. A 17-foot fiber glass craft, it weighs 1700 pounds and operates from the support ship by remote control at a range of up to five miles using tracking radar.

1968 July 7, “Long-Distance Crews”, in All Hands, number 618, page 27:

There, in the heart of a desert target range, operates a fleet of remote-control QM-56 mobile land drones, more familiarly described as modified tanks.

1968 September 7, “Desert Tank Corps”, in All Hands, number 620, page 13:

"Libya obtained a remote controlled explosive boat system consisting of 30-knot drone boats packed with high explosives controlled from a cabin cruiser type craft," Butts told the seapower and strategic and critical materials subcomittee.

1984 March 1, UPI, “Libya owns drone boats, Navy says”, in Eugene Register-Guard, page 2:

(chiefly military) Any remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), especially when multiple such vehicles are operated from a larger vessel.


turn

en-verb

turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)

turns (present singular third-person)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turned (past)
turnt (obsolete participle past)
turnt (obsolete past)
turn (infinitive)
turn (first-person present singular)
turned (first-person past singular)
turn (present second-person singular)
turnest (archaic present second-person singular)
turned (past second-person singular)
turnedst (archaic past second-person singular)
turns (present singular third-person)
turneth (archaic present singular third-person)
turned (past singular third-person)
turn (plural present)
turned (past plural)
turn (present subjunctive)
turned (past subjunctive)
turn (imperative present)
turning (participle present)
turned (participle past)
turnt (archaic participle past)

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.

lyödä kierre

in cricket, make the ball move sideways when it bounces

kiertää

of a cricket ball, move sideways when it bounces

(intransitive or transitive) To change condition or attitude.

(professional wrestling) To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.

professional wrestling
professional wrestling


gung ho

en-adj

gung ho (comparative more gung ho, superlative most gung ho)

more gung ho (comparative)
most gung ho (superlative)
gungho (alternative)
gung-ho (alternative)

Evans Carlson
Gung ho
Raid on Makin Island

From a catachresis of Mandarin 工合 (gōnghé), an acronym for 工業合作社 /工业合作社 (gōngyè hézuòshè, “[Chinese] Industrial Cooperative Society”), as 工 (gōng, “work”) + 合 (“together”), literally “to work together”. The interpretation "work together" was created by U.S. Marine Evans Carlson, who was posted in China during the 1930s. It became the motto and nickname of the enthusiastic battalion Carlson commanded, leading to other marines adopting the term to mean "overly enthusiastic". It was popularized in the United States by the 1943 war film Gung Ho!, which profiled the battalion's leadership of the Raid on Makin Island during World War II.

com

(informal, derogatory, military) Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules.


banjo

en-verb

banjo (third-person singular simple present banjos, present participle banjoing, simple past and past participle banjoed)

banjos (present singular third-person)
banjoing (participle present)
banjoed (participle past)
banjoed (past)

From the pronunciation of African slaves, of unknown ultimate origin. Possibly a corruption of bandore (from Spanish bandurria), alternatively from a West African language such as Mandinka banjul, or Kimbundu mbanza.

Riding reported that on the day Mayne had asked for DZ coordinates, their base had been banjoed by the Germans.

2008, Michael Asher, The Regiment: The Definitive Story of the SAS, page cxxx:

(transitive, slang, British, military) To shell or attack (a target).


stand up

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

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

Tok Pisin: sanap

From Middle English standen up, from Old English standan up; equivalent to stand + up. Compare Old Norse standa upp.

(US, military, transitive) To formally activate and commission (a unit, formation, etc.).


check

By shortening from chequer, from Old French eschequier (“chessboard”), from Medieval Latin scaccarium, ultimately from the same Persian root as above.

CHECKY, [...] Checky, according to Colombiere, is one of the most noble and ancient figures [...] Checky is always composed of metal, and colour. [...] So that if that be or, and the next gules, the house or family is said to bear check, or, and gules. When the whole shield is not chequered , but only the chief, a bend, cross, or the like, the number of ranges should be expressed.

1741, Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopaedia: Or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (etc.) 5. Ed:

He died about 1270; and his son, Sir Robert, assisted the brave Sir William Wallace, and died in 1800. BOYD ARMS. Azure, a fesse check, argent et gules.

1825, Robert Trotter (the Younger.), Derwentwater; Or, the Adherents of King James. A Tale of the First Rebellion. With an Appendix, Containing Genealogical Notices and Anecdotes of Several Ancient and Honourable Families, page 115:

(heraldry, rare, possibly only as a printing error) Checky, i.e. chequy.


mushroom

mushroom (third-person singular simple present mushrooms, present participle mushrooming, simple past and past participle mushroomed)

mushrooms (present singular third-person)
mushrooming (participle present)
mushroomed (participle past)
mushroomed (past)

From Middle English muscheron, musseron, from Anglo-Norman musherum, moscheron, from Old French moisseron, of obscure origin: probably derived from Old French mosse, moise ("moss"; whence also French mousse), as the use first applied to a type of fungus which grows in moss, from Frankish *mosu (“moss”) or Old Dutch *mosa (“moss”), akin to Old High German mosa (“moor, swamp”), Old High German mos (“moss, bog”), Old High German mios (“moss, mire”), Old English mēos (“moss”), Old English mōs (“bog, marsh”), Old Norse mosi (“moss”), Old Norse myrr (“bog, mire”), from Proto-Germanic *musą, *musô, *miuziz (“mosses, bog”), from Proto-Indo-European *mews- (“mosses, mold, mildew”). Displaced native Old English swamm. More at mire. Alternatively, the Old French may be of pre-Roman origin. See Ancient Greek μύκης (múkēs, “mushroom”). Doublet of moss and mousse.

unk

obscure

gl

"moss"; whence also French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">mousse</i>

der

(intransitive) To form the shape of a mushroom.

(ballistics, of a bullet) To form the shape of a mushroom when striking a soft target.


bergen

Shortened from Bergen rucksack, possibly named after their creator, Norwegian Ole F. Bergan, combined with the name of the Norwegian city of Bergen.

Their bergens were already stuffed almost to bursting point, as were their belt kits, with rations, water, radios and spare batteries, ammunition, personal equipment, sleeping bags, waterproofs, medical packs, survival kits, and much more.

2012, Peter Ratcliffe, Eye of the Storm:


club

→ Afrikaans: klub

→ Catalan: club

→ Czech: klub

→ Dutch: club

→ French: club (see there for further descendants)

desctree

→ German: Club, Klub (used to be common for some decades, but is now becoming less frequent again)
Russian: клуб (klub), клубъ (klub) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Yakut: кулууп (kuluup)
→ Yiddish: קלוב (klub)
Serbo-Croatian: klȗb/клу̑б

desc

→ Greek: κλαμπ (klamp), γκλομπ (gklomp), γκλοπ n (gklop), κλομπ n (klomp)

→ Indonesian: klub

→ Japanese: 倶楽部 (kurabu), クラブ (see there for further descendants)

→ Korean: 클럽 (keulleop)

→ Latvian: klubs

→ Lithuanian: klubas

→ Malay: kelab

→ Maori: karapu

→ Spanish: club

→ Tokelauan: kalapu

→ Welsh: clwb

From Middle English clubbe, from Old Norse klubba, klumba (“cudgel”), from Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clip, clasp; clump, lump; log, block”). Cognate with English clump, cloud, Latin globus, glomus; and perhaps related to Middle Low German kolve (“bulb”), German Kolben (“butt, bulb, club”).

knuppel

heavy stick for use as weapon or plaything

(World War I– World War II, military slang) The propeller of an aeroplane.


club

en-verb

club (third-person singular simple present clubs, present participle clubbing, simple past and past participle clubbed)

clubs (present singular third-person)
clubbing (participle present)
clubbed (participle past)
clubbed (past)

To club a battalion implies a temporary inability in the commanding officer to restore any given body of men to their natural front in line or column.

1876, Major-General G. E. Voyle, Captain G. De Saint-Clair-Stevenson, F.R.G.S., A Military Dictionary, Comprising Terms, Scientific and Otherwise, Connected with the Science of War, Third Edition, London: William Clowes & Sons, page 80:

(military) To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.

(transitive, military) To turn the breech of (a musket) uppermost, so as to use it as a club.


transportability

en-noun

transportability (countable and uncountable, plural transportabilities)

(military) The capability of materiel to be moved by towing, self-propulsion, or carrier via any means, such as railways, highways, waterways, pipelines, oceans, and airways.


promo

(professional wrestling slang) an interview or monologue intended to promote a character or an upcoming match.


foible

1640–50, from Early Modern French foible (“feeble”) (contemporary French faible). Doublet of feeble.

(fencing) Part of a sword between the middle and the point, weaker than the forte.


treff

The Moscow experts on treffs perform their duty with ponderous, often ridiculous, awkwardness. Before the atomic spy Allan Nunn May left Canada to go to London, a treff in London had to be arranged for him and another agent.

1955, David J. Dallin, Soviet Espionage, page 495:


PPS

Shah has since apologised, saying: “I deeply regret the hurt I have caused.” It emerged later that she had stepped down as PPS to McDonnell.

2016 April 26, Nazia Parveen, “Bradford MP Naz Shah quits as McDonnell's PPS after antisemitic posts”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Initialism of parliamentary private secretary.


lock

Tok Pisin: lok

→ Hawaiian: laka

From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”).
The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Related to luxe via Latin.

der

"I never saw such a gun in my life," replied poor Winkle, looking at the lock, as if that would do any good.

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:


manual

→ Japanese: マニュアル (manyuaru)

From Middle English manuel, from Old French manuel, from Late Latin manuāle (“handbook, manual”).

(military) A drill in the use of weapons, etc.


octagon

octagons (plural)
octogon (alternative obsolete)

From Latin octagōnon, octōgōnon (“octagon”), and from its etymon Ancient Greek ὀκτάγωνον (oktágōnon, “octagon”), probably from Koine Greek ὀκτάγωνος (oktágōnos, “having eight corners”) + -ον (-on, suffix forming nouns). ὀκτάγωνος is derived from ὀκτᾰ- (oktă-, prefix meaning ‘eight’) (from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw (“eight”)) + γωνία (gōnía, “angle; corner”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu (“knee”)); analysable as octa- + -gon. The English word is cognate with Middle French octogone (modern French octogone), Italian octagono (obsolete), ottagono, Spanish octágono, octógono.
Sense 2 (“arena for mixed martial arts”) refers to its shape.

(martial arts) Often in the form Octagon: the arena for mixed martial arts.


axis

Borrowed from Latin axis (“axle, axis”) in the 16th century.

This Berlin-Rome vertical line is not an obstacle but rather an axis around which can revolve all those European states with a will to collaboration and peace.

1936, November 1st, Benito Mussolini, Milan Speech


panda

→ Malay: panda

→ Japanese: パンダ (panda)

→ Korean: 판다 (panda)

→ Tagalog: panda

→ Thai: แพนด้า (pɛn-dâa)

Borrowed from French panda, of unclear ultimate origin but probably from the second element of nigálya-pónya, a local name for the red panda recorded in Nepal and Sikkim by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800 or 1801 – 1894), an ethnologist, naturalist and the British Resident of Nepal, possibly from Nepali निँगाले (nĩgāle, “relating to a certain species of bamboo”) (the adjectival form of निँगालो (nĩgālo), a variant of निङालो (niṅālo, “Drepanostachyum intermedium, a species of bamboo”)) + a regional Tibetan name for the animal (compare regional Tibetan ཕོ་ཉ (pho nya, “messenger”)).
Attributive uses of sense 2 (“giant panda”) generally refer to that animal’s distinctive black and white coat colour.

Before the confrontation, the youth sighted a police personnel carrier, two dog patrol vans, a motorway style car, at least two pandas and one unmarked police car.

1975, Darcus Howe, editor, Race Today, London: Race Today Collective, →OCLC, page 279:

(British, law enforcement, colloquial) Ellipsis of panda car (“a black-and-white police car”).


sterile

en-adj

sterile (comparative more sterile, superlative most sterile)

more sterile (comparative)
most sterile (superlative)

From Middle French stérile, from Latin sterilis (“barren, futile”). See also Ancient Greek στεῖρα (steîra).

An early CIA decision was to bring war surplus in Europe to the United States, rather than let it fall into the hands of left-wing movements. Some of the guns would also, it was reasoned, be useful as "sterile" weapons (foreign-made and untraceable to the United States) to be provided secretly to foreign friends.

1980, Russell Warren Howe, Weapons: The International Game of Arms, Money and Diplomacy:

In addition to this rapid supply system, the US Army Counterinsurgency Support Office on Okinawa helped procure special equipment including rucksacks, special rations for irregular troops, 'sterile' weapons which could not be traced to the USA and other items not procurable through foreign channels.

1990, Leroy Thompson, The US Army in Vietnam, page 111:

(US, military) Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States.


land

en-noun

land (countable and uncountable, plural lands)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Germanic *landą
Proto-West Germanic *land
Old English land
Middle English lond
English land
From Middle English lond, land, from Old English land, from Proto-West Germanic *land, from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“land, heath”).
Cognate with Scots laund (“land”), West Frisian lân (“land”), Dutch land (“land, country”), German Land (“land, country, state”), Norwegian and Swedish land (“land, country, shore, territory”), Icelandic land (“land”). Non-Germanic cognates include Old Irish lann (“heath”), Welsh llan (“enclosure”), Breton lann (“heath”), Old Church Slavonic лѧдо (lędo), from Proto-Slavic *lędo (“heath, wasteland”), French lande (“heath”) and Albanian lëndinë (“heath, grassland”).

cog

The FBI maintains a database, the General Rifling Characteristics (GRC) file, which is organized by caliber, number of lands and grooves, direction of twist, and width of lands and grooves, to help an examiner figure out the origin of a recovered bullet.

2008 August 1, Lisa Steele, “Ballistics”, in Eric York Drogin, editor, Science for Lawyers, American Bar Association, page 16:

The human eye is a precision instrument. It can detect grooves and lands on a slug more efficiently than any computer.

2012 November 15, “One Way to Get Off”, in Elementary, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller):

In any surface prepared with indentations, perforations, or grooves, that part of the surface which is not so treated, such as the level part of a millstone between the furrows.

(ballistics) The space between the rifling grooves in a gun.


horn

en-noun

horn (countable and uncountable, plural horns)

From Middle English horn, horne, from Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną. Compare West Frisian hoarn, Dutch hoorn, Low German Hoorn, horn, German Horn, Danish and Swedish horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).
Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-nó-m, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn”). Compare Breton kern (“horn”), Latin cornū, Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras), Proto-Slavic *sьrna, Old Church Slavonic сьрна (sĭrna, “roedeer”), Hittite [script needed] (surna, “horn”), Persian سر (sar), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛṅga, “horn”). Doublet of corn (“callus”), corno, and cornu.
(telephone): From the horn-shaped earpieces of old communication systems that used air tubes.

doublet

(military) In naval mine warfare, a projection from the mine shell of some contact mines which, when broken or bent by contact, causes the mine to fire.


leopard

leopards (plural)
lybard (alternative)
libbard (alternative)

From Middle English leopard, leopart, lepard, leperd, from Old French leopard (“leopard”), from Late Latin leopardus (“leopon, lipard”) from late Ancient Greek λεόπαρδος (leópardos, “leopon, lipard”), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + πάρδος (párdos, “pard, male leopard”), from earlier πάρδαλις (párdalis, “leopard”), probably from an unattested Old Persian [Term?] term ancestral to Middle Persian palang, Khwarezmian plyk, Sogdian [script needed] (pwrδnk), Pashto پړانګ (pṛāng). Compare Persian پلنگ (palang) and Sanskrit पृदाकु (pṛdāku, “panther”).

tier

a large wild cat with a spotted coat, Panthera pardus

Naakaii Łizhiní Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ náshdóítsoh łikizhígíí

leopon

hybrid formed by a leopard and a lioness

lipard

hybrid formed by a lion and a leopardess

Sometimes there is confusion over the heraldic leopard, the question being—When is a leopard not a leopard? There is a theory that the lion and leopard were the same thing, and that they were named entirely depending on their attitude—thus if the animal was passant guardant it was a leopard, but when rampant it was a lion. Nowadays a leopard is the genuine spotted article and quite unmistakeable. Some people still speak, wrongly, of the leopards of England, but it does no great harm as it is an ancient expression and everybody knows what it means.

1968, Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin, The Observer's Book of Heraldry, pages 68–69:


warthog

(military) A nickname for the A-10 Thunderbolt II air support warplane


flag

en-verb

flag (third-person singular simple present flags, present participle flagging, simple past and past participle flagged)

flags (present singular third-person)
flagging (participle present)
flagged (participle past)
flagged (past)

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape.
Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

(firearms) To point the muzzle of a firearm at a person or object one does not intend to fire on.

osoittaa

firearms: to point at a person or object one does not intend to fire on


deserter

Borrowed from Latin desertor (“deserter”), from desero (“I forsake, I abandon”); or from desert + -er.

dezertor

person who leaves a military or naval unit

អ្នករមត់

nĕək rɔɔrɔmŭət

(military) A person who has physically removed him- or herself from the control or direction of a military or naval unit with the intention of permanently leaving

Code of Military Justice
Code of Military Justice

Under the United States Code of Military Justice, a person who has been placed on AWOL status for more than 30 days


ANZAC

(military, historical) A soldier from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (1914-1918).


fountain

From Middle English [Term?]; from Old French fontaine (whence modern fontaine); from Late Latin fontana, from Latin fontanus, fontaneus, adjectives from fons (“source, spring”).

Crest : A boar's head couped gold semy of fountains armed gules. Motto : REMIS VELISQUE. Granted by the College of Arms 1966.

1928, New England Historic Genealogical Society. Committee on Heraldry, A Roll of Arms:

Argent, seme of fountains on a chief azure a Lorraine cross and an oak leaf of the first. Crest, None. Motto, Able and Ready. The blue of the shield represents Infantry. The fountains are emblematic of Arizona,[…]

1953, United States. Department of the Army. Office of Military History, The Army Lineage Book, page 828:

(heraldry) A roundel barry wavy argent and azure.


minor

en-adj

minor (comparative more minor, superlative most minor)

more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)
miner (alternative)
maner (alternative)
minore (alternative)
minour (alternative)
mynor (alternative)
mynour (alternative)
mynowr (alternative)
mi (alternative)

antonym(s) of

serious, grave, severe, dangerous, fatal, life-threatening, acute (informal)

From Middle English minor, menor, menour, etc., from Latin minor (“lesser; young; young person”) both directly and via Norman and Middle French menor, menour, etc. Doublet of minus but not mini-. Cognate with minister, minify, Minorca, Menshevik, and possibly minnow. Compare Latin minimum and minuō, Old High German minniro, Cornish minow.

der

...that the Minor part of the Lords might joyn with the Major part of the House of Commons...

1642, Charles I, His Majesties Answer to a Printed Book Entituled A Remonstrance..., page 13:

In every other, the minor will be preferred by me to the major vote.

1796 December 27, Thomas Jefferson, letter

Lesser, smaller in importance, size, degree, seriousness, or significance compared to another option, particularly:

(politics, obsolete) Of or related to a minority party.


major

majors (plural)
majour (alternative obsolete)

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒɚ(ɹ)]

[ˈmeɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

[ˈmæɪ̯d͡ʒə(ɹ)]

From Middle English major, from Latin maior, comparative of magnus (“great, large; noble, important”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂yōs (“greater”), comparative of *meǵh₂- (“great”). Compare West Frisian majoar (“major”), Dutch majoor (“major”), French majeur. Doublet of mayor.

pääaineopiskelija

student specializing in a specified subject

He used to be a major in the army.

(military) A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel.

Meronyms: drum major, trumpet major

An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.


bracket

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

kllapë

generically any of “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, etc.

(military) The cheek or side of an ordnance carriage, supporting the trunnions.

(military) Typically of stationary weapons, the zone enclosed by one long and one short shot impact expected to be hit very accurately.

haarukka

military: endangered region between two shot impacts


bracket

en-verb

bracket (third-person singular simple present brackets, present participle bracketing, simple past and past participle bracketed)

brackets (present singular third-person)
bracketing (participle present)
bracketed (participle past)
bracketed (past)

(military) To gauge the range of a target by firing equally short and long of it and ranging the weapon between the two to achieve a very accurate hit.


proper

en-adj

proper (comparative more proper, superlative most proper)

more proper (comparative)
most proper (superlative)
propa (alternative Geordie)
propre (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.

luonnonvärinen

heraldry: having its natural or usual coloration

(heraldry) Portrayed in natural or usual coloration, as opposed to conventional tinctures.


front

en-noun

front (countable and uncountable, plural fronts)

Tok Pisin: fran

→ Japanese: フロント (furonto)

→ Korean: 프런트 (peureonteu)

From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons.

(military) An area where armies are engaged in conflict, especially the line of contact.

(military) The lateral space occupied by an element measured from the extremity of one flank to the extremity of the other flank.

ճակատ

military: lateral space occupied from one flank of a military unit to the other flank

(military) When a combat situation does not exist or is not assumed, the direction toward which the command is faced.

ճակատ

military: direction toward which the command is faced


pale

From Middle English pale, pal, borrowed from Old French pal, from Latin pālus (“stake, prop”). English inherited the word pole (or, rather Old English pāl) from a much older Proto-Germanic borrowing of the same Latin word.
Doublet of peel and pole.

(heraldry) A vertical band down the middle of a shield.


cant

cant (usually uncountable, plural cants)

From Latin cantō probably via Old Northern French canter (“sing, tell”). Doublet of chant.

Homophone: Kant (in anglicized pronunciation)

(countable, heraldry) A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.

sprekend wapen

heraldry: blazon that makes a pun, canting arms


cant

en-verb

cant (third-person singular simple present cants, present participle canting, simple past and past participle canted)

cants (present singular third-person)
canting (participle present)
canted (participle past)
canted (past)

(intransitive, heraldry) Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.


service

service (third-person singular simple present services, present participle servicing, simple past and past participle serviced)

services (present singular third-person)
servicing (participle present)
serviced (participle past)
serviced (past)
seruice (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English servise, from Old English serfise, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Displaced native Old English þeġnung.

to service a target; target servicing

(transitive, military, euphemistic) To attack.


cruise

cruises (plural)
cruize (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from Dutch kruisen (“cross, sail around”), from kruis (“cross”), from Middle Dutch cruce, from Latin crux.

bor+

I ended my cruise of four years in the Marine Corps at the first Officers' Training Camp for enlisted men at Quantico […]

1919, United States. Marine Corps, Recruiters' Bulletin, page 16:

The New Orleans had to have numerous alterations made, and as the Chicago was just about going into commission, I was ordered to that ship to finish my cruise.

2015, George Barnett, Andy Barnett, George Barnett, Marine Corps Commandant: A Memoir, 1877-1923:

(US, military, informal) A period spent in the Marine Corps.


pentagon

From Middle French pentagone, from Late Latin pentagōnum, from Ancient Greek πεντάγωνον (pentágōnon), noun use of the neuter of the adjective πεντάγωνος (pentágōnos, “five-angled”), from πέντε (pénte, “five”) + -γωνος (-gōnos, “angled”). Equivalent to penta- + -gon.


hawk

Sranan Tongo: aka

From Middle English hauk, hauke, hawke, havek, from Old English hafoc (“hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *habuk, from Proto-Germanic *habukaz, controversially derived from Proto-Indo-European *kopuǵos, perhaps ultimately derived from *keh₂p- (“seize”).
See also West Frisian hauk, German Low German Haavke, Dutch havik, German Habicht, Swedish hök, Danish høg, Norwegian Bokmål hauk, Norwegian Nynorsk hauk, Faroese heykur, Icelandic haukur, Finnish haukka, Estonian haugas; also Latin capys, capus (“bird of prey”), Albanian gabonjë, shkabë (“eagle”), Russian ко́бец (kóbec, “falcon”), Polish kobuz (“Eurasian Hobby”)).

A hawk by nature, Ellenborough strongly favoured presenting St Petersburg with an ultimatum warning that any further incursions into Persia would be regarded as a hostile act.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 106:

“Everybody knows who were the hawks and who were the doves,” Bundy told the ExComm on the morning of October 28, after Khrushchev announced that he was withdrawing his missiles. “Today was the day of the doves.”

2012 October 11 [1962], Michael Dobbs, quoting McGeorge Bundy, “The original hawks and doves”, in Foreign Policy:

President Donald Trump has spent years playing the role of a China hawk.

2019, “The World in 2020”, in The Economist:

(politics) An advocate of aggressive political positions and actions.

სამხედრო ძალის გამოყენების მომხრე

ʒalismieri metodebis gamoq̇enebis momxre

ძალისმიერი მეთოდების გამოყენების მომხრე


double

en-verb

double (third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled)

doubles (present singular third-person)
doubling (participle present)
doubled (participle past)
doubled (past)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

(military) To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.

Was this simply the cover name of an Allied spy-code named the Brass Monkey? […] The possibility that the Brass Monkey himself was "doubling" (with headquarters' approval, of course) is too logical […]

(espionage, intransitive) To operate as a double agent.


double agent

(espionage) A spy who pretends to work for one side, when they are actually working for or passing information to the other.


czar

See tsar. The spelling czar, the older spelling in English, comes from Sigismund von Herberstein's Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii ("Notes on Muscovite Affairs") of 1549. The alternative tsar began to replace it in the 19th century.

drug czar

cyberczar

The federal mental health czar is calling for more money to expand services to help people suffering amid the social isolation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic […]

2020 May 8, Jayne O'Donnell, “'Deaths of despair': Coronavirus pandemic could push suicide, drug deaths as high as 150k, study says”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 2020-05-09:

(informal, US politics, Philippine politics) An appointed official tasked to regulate or oversee a specific area.


DMZ

demilitarized zone
demilitarized zone#English

(military) Abbreviation of demilitarized zone.


flèche

Borrowed from French flèche. Compare fletch.

(military, fortification) An earthwork consisting of two berms forming an angle with an open gorge.

(fencing) A method of attack with a sword (foil or épée) in which the attacker's back leg crosses in front of the front leg in the offensive move.


flèche

flèche (third-person singular simple present flèches, present participle flèching, simple past and past participle flèched)

flèches (present singular third-person)
flèching (participle present)
flèched (participle past)
flèched (past)

(fencing) To attack using the flèche method.


magazine

→ Burmese: မဂ္ဂဇင်း (magga.jang:)

→ Cebuano: magasin

→ Dutch: magazine

→ French: magazine

→ Portuguese: magazine

→ Italian: magazine

→ Gujarati: મેગેઝિન (megejhin)

→ Hebrew: מגזין (magazin)

→ Japanese: マガジン (magajin)

desc

→ Kashubian: magazina (Canada, United States)

→ Shan: မႅၵ်ႈၵၸိၼ်း (mēk kǎ tsín)

→ Shan: မႅၵ်ႈၵၸိၼ်း (mēk kǎ tsín)

→ Spanish: magacín

→ Turkish: magazin

→ Malay: magazin

From Middle English magasyne, from Middle French magasin (“warehouse, store”), from Italian magazzino (“storehouse”), ultimately from Arabic مَخَازِن pl (maḵāzin), plural of مَخْزَن (maḵzan, “storeroom, storehouse”), noun of place from خَزَنَ (ḵazana, “to store, to stock, to lay up”). First attested in the 1580s.

ref

Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “magazine (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

etydate

He all thir Ammunition / And feats of War defeats / With plain Heroic magnitude of mind / And celeſtial vigour arm’d, / Thir Armories and Magazins contemns, / Renders them uſeleſs, while / With winged expedition / Swift as the lightning glance he executes / His errand on the wicked, who ſurpris’d / Loſe thir defence diſtracted and amaz’d.

1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, pages 76–77, lines 293–8:

The cruiser blew up when a shell hit its magazine.

Juneau was making good time with the other surviving U.S. Navy ships, despite her damage, when the I-26 spotted her and sent a salvo of Type 95 torpedoes in her direction. Passing between the Helena and San Francisco, some indication being they had actually been shot at the San Francisco and gone long because San Francisco was travelling significantly slower than expected, they nonetheless hit Juneau and detonated the ship's magazine.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 28:10 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

(nautical) The portion of a warship where munitions are stored.


cartouche

Borrowed from French cartouche, from Italian cartuccia, from carta, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs). Doublet of cartridge.

(firearms) A wooden case filled with balls, to be shot from a cannon.

(firearms) A gunner's bag for ammunition.

(military) A military pass for a soldier on furlough.


ghost

en-noun

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

ghosts (plural)
ghoast (alternative obsolete)
gost (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)

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

Inherited from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, gǣst (“breath, spirit, soul, ghost”) (compare modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, derived from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gäist, Jeest, West Frisian geast, Dutch geest, German Low German Geest, Geist, German Geist, Swedish gast.
The ⟨h⟩ in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton's Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the ‘Holy Ghoost’, likely introduced by Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, as a result of Flemish influence, where it was spelled gheest at the time. Doublet of geist.

(espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.


WTF

(programming slang): Originated on The Daily WTF, a humorous blog dealing with real-world examples of bad programming.

wtf (alternative)
W.T.F. (alternative)
W. T. F. (alternative)

I've READ them; I know what all the words are. I still say, "WTF, over?" Someone's playing with our heads on this one, but what's all the word stew?

1985, Dick Dunn, “China Cat lyrics - explanations?”, in net.music.gdead (Usenet):

Now, please, explain WTF did you mean by this text?

1994, Marat Fayzullin, “Re: MMM”, in relcom.talk (Usenet):

WTF are you on about? We played some very good football for most of the match, […]

2005, “defect violation”, “Re: WTF!!”, in uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool (Usenet):

WTF was that about?

2019, 20 November, Carol Midgley, "Prince Andrew is ‘not very quick on his feet’, says the Duchess of York. What of her?" (in The Times newspaper)

There’s a similar “sure but what else?” vibe to Made for Love, HBO Max’s new high-concept half-hour comedy, gently coasting on its WTF setup for longer than it should, to the detriment of the main star Cristin Milioti, trying her very best to secure our attention as it slowly drifts elsewhere.

2021 March 31, Benjamin Lee, “Made for Love review – Black Mirror-esque comedy needs an upgrade”, in The Guardian:

(military slang, Internet slang, text messaging, vulgar) Initialism of what the fuck.


bury

en-verb

bury (third-person singular simple present buries, present participle burying, simple past and past participle buried)

buries (present singular third-person)
burying (participle present)
buried (participle past)
buried (past)

Middle English burien, berien, from Old English byrġan, from Proto-West Germanic *burgijan, from Proto-Germanic *burgijaną (“to keep safe”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to defend, protect”).
Cognate with Icelandic byrgja (“to cover, shut; to hold in”); West Frisian bergje (“to keep”), German bergen (“to save/rescue something”), Danish bjerge (“to save/rescue something or somebody”); also Eastern Lithuanian bir̃ginti (“to save, spare”), Russian бере́чь (beréčʹ, “to spare”), Ossetian ӕмбӕрзын (æmbærzyn, “to cover”).
The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects, while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɛ/ is from the Kentish dialects.

دَفَنَ

to hide or conceal as if by covering with earth

(professional wrestling slang) To ruin the image or character of another wrestler; usually by embarrassing or defeating them in dominating fashion.


pool

pools (plural)
poole (alternative obsolete)

1. From French poule (“collective stakes in a game”). The French word "poule" in this context is an abbreviation of "poulain, pouliche" (foal, filly), and referred to races with female horses under 3 years old. It then became used by punters to designate bets on that race, and started to be used from the racetrack to the stadiums.
2. The OED suggests that this may be a transferred use of poule (“hen”), which has been explained anecdotally as deriving from an old informal betting game in France - 'jeu de poule' - Game of Chicken (or Hen, literally) in which poule became synonymous with the combined money pot claimed by the winner.

bor

pull (accents with FOOT-GOOSE merger or full-fool merger)

(fencing) A group of fencers taking part in a competition.


baggage

en-noun

baggage (usually uncountable, plural baggages)

From Middle English bagage, from Old French bagage, baguage, from bague (“bundle, sack”), of Germanic/North Germanic origin, probably from the same ultimate source as Old Norse baggi (“pack, bundle”). Compare also bag. By surface analysis, bag + -age.

Friedrich decides to go down the River; he himself to Lowen, perhaps near twenty miles farther down, but where there is a Bridge and Highway leading over; Prince Leopold, with the heavier divisions and baggages, to Michelau, some miles nearer, and there to build his Pontoons and cross.

1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia:

In Poland, for example, the unknown Bolesław Bierut, who appeared in 1944 in the baggage of the Red Army, and who played a prominent role as a ‘non-party figure’ in the Lublin Committee, turned out to be a Soviet employee formerly working for the Comintern.

2007, Norman Davies, No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945, New York: Penguin, page 305:

(military, countable (obsolete) and uncountable) An army's portable equipment; its baggage train.


special

en-adj

special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)

more special (comparative)
specialer (comparative)
most special (superlative)
specialest (superlative)

common

antonym(s) of “distinguished by a unique or unusual quality”

From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin speciālis (from speciēs). In this sense displaced native Old English synderlīċ. Doublet of especial.

מיוחד \ מְיֻחָד

of or related to disabilities, especially learning or intellectual disabilities

special forces, special operations

(military) Of or related to unconventional warfare.


couch

→ German: Couch

→ Serbo-Croatian: кауч /kauč

From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch.

If Kamala Harris replaces Joe Biden in the 2024 election, analysts warn that she will lose to the couch.

(figurative, politics, usually as "the couch") Voters who opt out of voting, usually by staying home on their couch.


RPG

Initialism. When applied to a "rocket-propelled grenade" it derives from Russian РПГ (RPG), initialism of ручной противотанковый гранатомёт (ručnoj protivotankovyj granatomjót, “hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher”), of which "rocket-propelled grenade" is a backronym (though an accurate description of the weapon system).

rocket-propelled grenade
rocket-propelled grenade#English

(weaponry) Initialism of rocket-propelled grenade.


RPG

en-verb

RPG (third-person singular simple present RPGs, present participle RPGing or RPG-ing or RPG'ing, simple past and past participle RPGed or RPG'ed or RPG'd)

RPGs (present singular third-person)
RPGing (participle present)
RPG-ing (participle present)
RPG'ing (participle present)
RPGed (participle past)
RPGed (past)
RPG'ed (participle past)
RPG'ed (past)
RPG'd (participle past)
RPG'd (past)

However, one group of Americans at the Embassy doesn’t creep around quivering in anxiety about being RPGed or machinegunned.

1981 November 7, B.P., “U.S. Embassy”, in Soldier of Fortune, volume 6, number 11, page 53:

It was like the movie Black Hawk Down without the rioters. I was RPGed so often I gradually stopped ducking.

2006 September 7, Robert D. Kaplan, Imperial Grunts: […], Vintage Books, page 317:

The Taliban had buried a triple mine in the road a week ago and remotely detonated it under a Spartan. Then they RPGed the Scimitar trapped ahead of it.

2009, Ed Macy, Hellfire, HarperPress, page 343:

rocket-propelled grenade
rocket-propelled grenade

(transitive, weaponry) To attack with a rocket-propelled grenade.


timber

en-noun

timber (countable and uncountable, plural timbers)

From Middle English tymber, from Old English timber, from Proto-West Germanic *timr, from Proto-Germanic *timrą, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“build, house”) (see Proto-Indo-European *dṓm).
Cognates include Dutch timmer, Old High German zimbar (German Zimmer), Norwegian tømmer, Old Norse timbr, Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”), Latin domus and Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos).

der

(firearms, informal) The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun.


timbre

en-noun

timbre (countable and uncountable, plural timbres)

From French timbre, ultimately from Ancient Greek τύμπανον (túmpanon, “drum”). Doublet of tympanum, timpani, timbal, and tymbal.

doublet

Quarterly the First quarter Siluer …, The second Siluer a Cheueron gules betweene three Castles Sables And to his timbre vpon his healme, an Elephants head in his proper Colours […]

1492, "Confirmation of arms with difference and crest to Thomas and John Elyott by John Writhe, Garter, dated 7th July, 1492 (MS. queen's Coll. 139, No. 13.)", in 1925, Willoughby Aston Littledale, A Collection of Miscellaneous Grants, Crests, Confirmations, Augmentations and Exemplifications of Arms in the Mss. Preserved in the British Museum, Ashmolean Library, Queen's College, Oxford, and Elsewhere, page 70

The basilican pavilion [...] has frequently appeared on banners since the 13th century, but the pope has used it only rarely, as a timbre or crest above his coat of ARMS (a few examples exist from the time of MARTIN V).

2002, Philippe Levillain, John W. O'Malley, The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 1145:

(heraldry, uncommon) The crest on a (helmet atop a) coat of arms.


label

→ Danish: label

→ Dutch: label

→ French: label

desctree

→ Japanese: ラベル (raberu)
→ Korean: 라벨 (rabel)

→ Korean: 레이블 (reibeul)

→ Malay: label

→ Polish: label

→ Welsh: label

From Middle English label (“narrow band, strip of cloth”), from Old French label, lambel (Modern French lambeau), from Frankish *lappā (“torn piece of cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *lappǭ, *lappô (“cloth stuff, rag, scraps, flap, dewlap, lobe, rabbit ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“blade”). Cognate with Old High German lappa (“rag, piece of cloth”), Old English læppa (“skirt, flap of a garment”). More at lap.

cog

(heraldry) A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.


loo

I asked my loo to let me escort you in. I wanted a moment to thank you personally.” “There's no need.” “So you said before, but there is. And was. I'll take you in to Lieutenant Ricchio.”

2012, J. D. Robb, New York to Dallas, Penguin, →ISBN, page 91:


rope

en-noun

rope (countable and uncountable, plural ropes)

ropes (plural)
roap (alternative obsolete)
roape (alternative obsolete)

→ Irish: rópa

Tok Pisin: rop

From Middle English rop, rope, from Old English rāp (“rope, cord, cable”), from Proto-West Germanic *raip, from Proto-Germanic *raipaz, *raipą (“rope, cord, band, ringlet”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁roypnós (“strap, band, rope”), from *h₁reyp- (“to peel off, tear; border, edge, strip”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots rape, raip (“rope”), Saterland Frisian Roop (“rope”), West Frisian reap (“rope, cord”), Dutch roop, reep (“rope, cord, ring, strip, bar”), German Low German Reep (“rope”), Swedish rep (“rope”), Danish reb (“rope”), Icelandic reipi (“rope”), Albanian rrip (“belt, rope”).

der

give someone enough rope and they'll hang themself

you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope

(military, uncountable) A kind of chaff (material dropped to interfere with radar) consisting of foil strips with paper chutes attached.


system

en-noun

system (countable and uncountable, plural systems)

→ Japanese: システム (shisutemu)

Partly borrowed from Middle French sisteme, systeme, partly directly from its etymon Late Latin systēma (“harmony; musical scale; set of celestial objects; set of troops; system”), from Ancient Greek σύστημα (sústēma, “musical scale; organized body; whole made of several parts or members”), from σῠνίστημῐ (sŭnístēmĭ, “to combine, organize”) + -μᾰ (-mă, resultative suffix). σῠνίστημῐ is from σῠν- (sŭn-, “with, together”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”).
Cognate with Dutch systeem, modern French système, German System, Italian sistema, Portuguese sistema, Spanish sistema. Doublet of systema.

sisteem

The capitalist system

A group or set of related things that operate together as a complex whole.


glean

en-verb

glean (third-person singular simple present gleans, present participle gleaning, simple past and past participle gleaned)

gleans (present singular third-person)
gleaning (participle present)
gleaned (participle past)
gleaned (past)
glean (infinitive)
glean (first-person present singular)
gleaned (first-person past singular)
glean (present second-person singular)
gleanest (archaic present second-person singular)
gleaned (past second-person singular)
gleanedst (archaic past second-person singular)
gleans (present singular third-person)
gleaneth (archaic present singular third-person)
gleaned (past singular third-person)
glean (plural present)
gleaned (past plural)
glean (present subjunctive)
gleaned (past subjunctive)
glean (imperative present)
gleaning (participle present)
gleaned (participle past)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”).
The noun is derived from Late Middle English glene (“collection of heads of grain gathered by gleaning; head of grain”), from Old French glene, glane (“act of gleaning; legal right to glean”) (modern French glane (“act of gleaning”)), from glener, glainer (verb): see above.
cognates
* Medieval Latin glana, glena (“bundle of ears of grain”)

pennaouiñ

(transitive) to collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest; to collect fruit, grain, or other produce from (a field, an orchard, etc.), after the main gathering or harvest; (intransitive) to collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest

poimia

(transitive) Of an animal: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places; (intransitive) of an animal: to feed by picking up or plucking prey from various places

And they turned and fled toward the wilderneſſe vnto the rocke of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the high wayes fiue thouſand men: and purſued hard after them vnto Gidom, and ſlew two thouſand men of them.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 20:45, column 1:

(obsolete, military) To cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate.


synthesis

en-noun

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

der

(military) In intelligence usage, the examining and combining of processed information with other information and intelligence for final interpretation.


diamond

en-noun

diamond (countable and uncountable, plural diamonds)

From Middle English dyamaunt, from Old French diamant, from Late Latin diamās, from Latin adamās, from Ancient Greek ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “diamond”). Doublet of adamant. The printing sense is a calque of Dutch diamant, used by Dirck Voskens who first cut it around 1700; compare pearl, ruby (“size of type between pearl and nonpareil”).

der

Elphingston. Pearl a Chevron Diamond between three Boars Heads Eraz'd Ruby, arm'd of the first. / Eymouth. Diamond a Lyon Rampant Pearl, on a Canton of the 2d, a Cross Ruby.

1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296:

The Field is Ruby, on a Bend Topaz, three Martlets Diamond. The Armes of the most Noble and Puissant Lord, Edward Brabazon, Earl of Meath, and Baron of Atherdee in the Kingdom of Ireland. His Lordship's Atchievements are Quarterly of sixteen Coats. 1. Brabazon, as above. 2. Diamond, on a Chevron between three Pickaxes Pearl, as many Mullets Ruby, by the Name of Mosley. 3. Saphire, ten Bezants, 4, 3, 2, 1, by the Bisset.

1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504:

Pearl, an Eagle, Diamond, between three Crosses Patee, Ruby, for Morrys.

1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 71:

(heraldry) Sable, when blazoning by precious stones.


alce

Possibly from Ancient Greek ἀλκή (alkḗ, “courage, prowess”).

bor

Ar. a fesse betw. three alces’ or griffins’ heads erased sa.

1842, John Burke, John Bernard Burke, A General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, London: […] Edward Churton, […]:

Alce. The Male Griffin. […] Alice, or Alce. The Male Gryphon.

[1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry with Upwards of Two Thousand Five Hundred Illustrations, London: Kent & Cᵒ […]; East Dereham: W. H. Brown, […], page 4, column 2:

XV. CHARGES taken from MONSTERS. Monsters with Wings. Griffin. Dragon. Alce. Opinicus. […] Alce. See Griffin. […] The term Alce is given, as if used by writers for a kind of griffin, but no example can be quoted.

[1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, new edition, Oxford, Oxon, London: James Parker and Co., pages xvii, 9, and 294:

[…] griffin seems to have an existence in theory only; nevertheless he must be catalogued, together with the word alce, which is accepted (though not without dissent) as the individual name for the horned griffin.

[1963, Julian Franklyn, Shield and Crest: An Account of the Art and Science of Heraldry, 2nd edition, MacGibbon & Kee, page 149:

Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings; in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an ‘alce’ or a ‘keythong.’

[2001, Osita Iroku, A Day in the Life of God, →ISBN, page 85:

Folks gave the beast many names. Griffin, griffon, gryphon, alce, keythong, gryphen, griffen, gryphen, and opinicus…

[2009, Benjamin Towe, The First Wandmaker (Elfdreams of Parallan; II), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 20:

"It has no wings! I thought that griffins were lions with an eagle head and wings." / "I'm sure that this female Alce doesn't prefer to be called 'it,'" Ryu said pointedly. / "Alce?" / "Yes. A so-called wingless griffin. But they are two different creatures."

2009, Nicole Zoltack, Woman of Honor (The Kingdom of Arnhem; 1), Newhall, Calif.: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

The more common representation of the griffin is the female griffin, a creature with wings. Male griffins do NOT have wings and are termed “alces” or “keythongs.”

[2009 June, The Celator, volume 23, number 6:

They’d befriended him because he fed them the tastiest morsels, Alce, the gilded griffin, preferred Marvel while Keythong, the agate stone one, craved DC Comics.

2010, Shirin Dubbin, Dreams’ Dark Kiss, Carina Press, Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN:

figure 11 Cloven-hoofed, wingless griffin (also called an alce or a keythong in later heraldry) symbolizing the sun, and two-legged dragon (wyvern) symbolizing the moon.

[2011, Marc Michael Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 58:

Alce / Variations: Anthalops, Alcida, Calopus, Keythong, Panthalops, Tapopus / In heraldic symbology the alce is a wingless, male griffin with rays or spikes of gold protruding from several parts of its body; on occasion it also sports two long straight horns atop its head. A pair of such creatures is present on the coat of arms of the Earl of Ormande.

2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 22, column 1:

Adventurer’s Tip: Do not confuse [the griffin] with similar hybrids, such as the alce (a wingless griffin) or the alphyn (a lion with eagle claws for front legs).

2019, Blanca Martínez de Rituerto, Joe Sparrow, Dungeons & Drawings: An Illustrated Compendium of Creatures, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN:

(rare, heraldry or fantasy) A mythical beast resembling a griffin with no wings, often classified as a male griffin.


dress

en-verb

dress (third-person singular simple present dresses, present participle dressing, simple past dressed, past participle dressed or (obsolete) drest)

dresses (present singular third-person)
dressing (participle present)
dressed (past)
dressed (participle past)
drest (obsolete participle past)
dress (infinitive)
dress (first-person present singular)
dressed (first-person past singular)
dress (present second-person singular)
dressed (past second-person singular)
dresses (present singular third-person)
dressed (past singular third-person)
dress (plural present)
dressed (past plural)
dress (present subjunctive)
dressed (past subjunctive)
dress (imperative present)
dressing (participle present)
dressed (participle past)
drest (participle past)

→ Sranan Tongo: dresi

PIE word
 *dwís
The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *directiare (“to guide, direct”). Doublet of direct.
The noun is derived from the verb.

aantrek

to put clothes on (oneself or someone, etc.) — see also clothe

self aantrek

to put on clothes — see also get dressed

koristaa

to adorn or ornament (something) — see also adorn, ornament

siistiä

to fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose — see also get ready

whakahuene

referring to preparing rough sawn timber

to dress the ranks

(military) To arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation; especially, to adjust (soldiers or troops) into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other; to align.

laittaa ojennukseen

to arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation; especially, to adjust (soldiers or troops) into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other

Right, dress!

Form a straight line, and align yourself to the right!

(military, sometimes imperative as a drill command) Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other.


top

en-noun

top (countable and uncountable, plural tops)

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin.
Cognate with Scots tap (“top”), North Frisian top, tap, tup (“top”), Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), West Frisian top (“top”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), Low German Topp (“top”), German Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Icelandic toppur (“top”).
The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.

suprulo

BDSM: dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

(military) The First Sergeant or Master Sergeant (U.S. Marine Corps), senior enlisted man at company level.


batman

Batman (military)
Edward Ardizzone
Imperial War Museum

From bat (“packsaddle”) + man. The element bat is from French bât, from Old French bast, from Late Latin bastum, possibly from Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to bear, carry, lift”).

der

[A]s a rule the chambers were occupied only by Stack, who had been Wilfrid's batman in the war, and had for him one of those sphinx-like habits which wear better than expressed devotions.

1932, John Galsworthy, chapter III, in Flowering Wilderness […], London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 19:

(military) A servant or valet to a military officer.

ордина́рец

servant to an army officer — see also orderly


INS

(India, military, nautical) Initialism of Indian Naval Ship.


rad

(firearms, slang) Abbreviation of sight radius.


vane

From Middle English vane, Southern Middle English variant of fane, from Old English fana (“cloth, banner, flag”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanō, from Proto-Germanic *fanô, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“something woven; weave; tissue; fabric; cloth”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Foone (“flag, banner”), Dutch vaan (“banner, flag”), German Low German Fahn (“flag”), German Fahne. Doublet of obsolete fane (“weathercock; banner”) and fanon.

cog

(weaponry) One of the metal guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of a bomb or other missile.


sea lion

sea lions (plural)
sea-lion (alternative)
sealion (alternative uncommon)

From sea + lion, named from its marine habitat and its lion-like barking roar and mane. Compare Middle English see hound, cee-hound, se hound (“beaver”, literally “sea-hound”).

(heraldry) A monster consisting of the upper part of a lion combined with the tail of a fish (a lion marined).


spanner

Japanese: スパナ (supana)

Korean: 스패너 (seupaeneo)

Malay: sepana

مِفْتَاح إِنْجْلِيزِيّ m (miftāḥ ʔinglīziyy, literally “English key”)

га́ечны ключ m (háječny ključ, literally “nut key”)

га́ечен ключ m (gáečen ključ, literally “nut key”)

γερμανικό κλειδί n (germanikó kleidí, literally “German key”)

га́ечный ключ m (gáječnyj ključ, literally “nut key”)

гайкови́й ключ m (hajkovýj ključ, literally “nut key”)

The spanner for spanning or winding up the spring of the wheel lock.

1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, Fig. 10., page xvi:

(weaponry) A hand tool shaped like a small crank handle, for winding the spring of a wheel lock on a musket.


wrench

en-verb

wrench (third-person singular simple present wrenches, present participle wrenching, simple past and past participle wrenched)

wrenches (present singular third-person)
wrenching (participle present)
wrenched (participle past)
wrenched (past)
wrenche (alternative obsolete)
wrinche (alternative obsolete)
wringe (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English wrenchen, from Old English wrenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrankijan, from Proto-Germanic *wrankijaną. Compare German renken.

(intransitive, fencing, obsolete) To disarm an opponent by whirling their blade away.


draft

en-noun

draft (countable and uncountable, plural drafts)

A phonetic spelling of draught (compare laughter), from Middle English draught, draght (“that which is pulled; that which is drawn up, a design”), from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, from Proto-West Germanic *drahti, *drahtu, from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz (“a pulling, drawing”), equivalent to draw (“to draw, drag”) + -t. Cognate with Dutch dracht, German Tracht, Icelandic dráttur.

inh

(politics, US) A system of forcing or convincing people to take an elected position.


job

→ Antillean Creole: djòb

→ Brazilian Portuguese: job

→ Cantonese: job

→ Danish: job

→ Dutch: job

→ French: job

→ German: Job

→ Italian: job

→ Louisiana Creole: djòb

→ Norwegian Bokmål: jobb

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: jobb

→ Romanian: job

→ Swedish: jobb

From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at gob, jab, chop.

der

“He was ex-job, Beavis. Detective sergeant out of County, Banbury, retired in ‘59.”

2018 February 11, Colin Dexter, Russell Lewis, 14:17 from the start, in Endeavour(Cartouche), season 5, episode 2 (TV series), spoken by DS Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans):

But there it was on the screen: The personal details of his old colleague from Kennington station in the late nineties.[…]She’s job. We used to work together.

2018 July 24, Chris Merritt, Last Witness:A Gripping Crime Thriller You Won’t Be Able To Put Down:

“I’m job, D.S Townsend. I have to report a missing person.”

2022 February 9, Daragh Carville, Richard Clark, Furquan Akhtar, 01:33 from the start, in The Bay, season 3, episode 5, spoken by D.S Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason):

The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

w:A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

(UK, slang, law enforcement) The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer.


job

en-verb

job (third-person singular simple present jobs, present participle jobbing, simple past and past participle jobbed)

jobs (present singular third-person)
jobbing (participle present)
jobbed (participle past)
jobbed (past)

(intransitive, professional wrestling slang) To take the loss, usually in a demeaning or submissive manner.


corporal

From French caporal, probably influenced by corporal (above), from the Italian caporale, from capo (“head, leader”) from Latin caput (“head”).

(military) A non-commissioned officer army rank with NATO code OR-4. The rank below a sergeant but above a lance corporal and private.


corps

From French corps d'armée (literally “army body”), from Latin corpus (“body”). Doublet of corpse and corpus. See also English riff.

der

(military) A battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions.


ky

I put on a big fanny of Ky, that is a straight-sided pot of cocoa for them returning.

2005, Patrick Halliday, Survival, page 24:

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of kye (“cocoa”).


independent

en-adj

independent (comparative more independent, superlative most independent)

more independent (comparative)
most independent (superlative)

the independent candidate

At one point in the debate, the moderator asked a tough question that had the candidates stumped.
Moderator: "This question is for both of the candidates. Those ever-important independent voters who haven’t decided who to vote for would like to know what the real differences between you two are."
Gore: "I think the real difference between Governor Bush and I is that he is in fact a Republican, and I am currently a Democrat."
Moderator: "That doesn’t really answer the question, I am talking about issues."
Bush: "No, he is right. I am a Republican, and he is a Democrat."

2000 October 3, Tim Paluch, “Gore vs. Bush: That's Debatable”, in Iowa State Daily:

(politics) Not affiliated with any political party.


Third World

the Third World (canonical)
third world (alternative)
3rd World (alternative)
3rd world (alternative)

(historical, politics) Those countries not aligned with the west or the east during the Cold War.

الْعَالَم الثَّالِث

countries not aligned with the west or east during the cold war


beast

en-verb

beast (third-person singular simple present beasts, present participle beasting, simple past and past participle beasted)

beasts (present singular third-person)
beasting (participle present)
beasted (participle past)
beasted (past)
beest (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French bête), from Latin bēstia (“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.

(British, military) To impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.


guard

guards (plural)
gard (alternative obsolete)
garde (alternative obsolete)
guarde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English garde, from early Middle French or late Old French guarde (“a guardian, warden, keeper”) (whence modern French garde), from the verb guarder. Doublet of garda, which is from Irish.

der

The president inspected the guard of honour.

(military) A squad responsible for protecting something.

(military, often in the plural) An elite military unit in Russia, the former Soviet Union and several post-Soviet countries.

(martial arts) A ground grappling position in which one combatant has their back to the ground while attempting to control the other combatant using their legs.


dreadnought

dreadnoughts (plural)
dreadnaught (alternative)

Named after HMS Dreadnought, the first battleship finished of this type, itself named for Etymology 2.

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

Perturbed at being overtaken, the USS Texas is leading the 6th Battle Squadron at 22-and-a-half knots as the engineers pour everything they have into the effort. Behind the colossal clouds of smoke and cinders they put out come a seemingly-endless stream of dreadnoughts, battle flags flying from every mast and line they can find. It is the Grand Fleet.

2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 18:32 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 2022-08-04:

(military, nautical, historical) A battleship, especially of the World War I era, in which most of the firepower is concentrated in large guns that are of the same caliber.

Sovereign is the flagship of the rogue Spectre Saren. An enormous dreadnought larger than any other ship in any known fleet, Sovereign is crewed with both geth and krogan. At two kilometers long, its spinal-mounted main gun is likely capable of penetrating another dreadnought's kinetic barriers with a single shot.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Sovereign Codex entry:

(informal) Any type of warship heavier in armour or armament than a typical battleship.


First World

Holonyms: world, World

Meronym: Western Bloc

Near-synonym: free world

(historical, politics) Those countries aligned with the West during the Cold War.


unicorn

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”).
Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer). The finance sense was coined by American investor Aileen Lee and first used in a 2013 article.

The Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons and the First Battalion Royal Scots will be in attendance, and there will be unicorns, carricks, pursuivants, heralds, mace-bearers, ushers, and pages, together with the Purse-bearer, and the Lyon King-of-Arms, and the national anthem, and the royal salute

1898, Kate Douglas Wiggin, chapter 8, in Penelope’s Progress […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:


dragon

→ Fijian: drekoni

→ Japanese: ドラゴン (doragon)

desc

→ Korean: 드래곤 (deuraegon), 드래건 (deuraegeon)

→ Marathi: ड्रॅगन (ḍrĕgan)

→ Marshallese: tūrāikōn

→ Niuean: tarākoni

→ Swahili: dragoni

→ Tamil: டிராகன் (ṭirākaṉ)

→ Yoruba: dírágónì

From Middle English dragoun, borrowed from Old French dragon, from Latin dracō(n), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon”), probably from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “I see clearly”). Mostly displaced Old English draca (whence modern drake)—from the same Latin source, as are Draco, dracone, and dragoon.

taniwha

Maori mythological creature similar to a dragon

our dragoons were so denominated because they were armed with dragons, that is, with short muskets, which spouted fire like dragons, and had the head of a dragon wrought upon their muzzle

(military, weaponry, historical) A type of musket with a short, large-calibre barrel with a flared muzzle, often hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt.


basilisk

basilisks (plural)
basilisc (alternative)

From Middle English basilicke, borrowed from Old French basilique, from Latin basiliscus, from Ancient Greek βασιλίσκος (basilískos) (literally "minor king or chieftain", possibly based on descriptions or rare encounters with different types of cobra which have crown-like patterns on their head; the "deadly gaze" could have been from the spitting cobra's ability to spit venom into the eyes of predators or prey from a distance), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”). The cognitohazard/infohazard sense is by analogy with the deadly gaze of the mythical creature.

(heraldry) A type of dragon used in heraldry.

Awake ye men of Memphis, heare the clange / Of Scythian trumpets, heare the Baſiliſkes, / That roaring, ſhake Damaſcus turrets downe, […]

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

(weaponry) A type of large brass cannon.


cannon

en-noun

cannon (countable and uncountable, plural cannons or (mainly UK) cannon)

cannons (plural)
cannon (UK mainly plural)

Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of canyon. This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.

Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube.

(military, chiefly aviation) An autocannon.


muzzle

From earlier muzle, musle, mousle, mussel, mozell, from Middle English mosel, from Old French musel, museau, muzeau (modern French museau), from Late Latin mūsus (“snout”), probably expressive of the shape of protruded lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgīre (“to moo, bellow”). Doublet of museau. Displaced native Middle English kevel from Old English cæfl (“gag, bit, muzzle”), see English cavel.

onomatopoeic

expressive

(firearms) The mouth or the end for entrance or discharge of a gun, pistol etc., that the bullet emerges from.


speaker

→ Brunei Malay: speaker

→ Belarusian: спі́кер (spíkjer)

→ Estonian: spiiker

→ French: speaker

→ Georgian: სპიკერი (sṗiḳeri)

→ Italian: speaker

→ Japanese: スピーカー (supīkā)

→ Malayalam: സ്പീക്കർ (spīkkaṟ)

→ Maltese: speaker, spiker

→ Norwegian Bokmål: speaker

→ Polish: spiker

→ Romanian: speaker

desctree

→ Russian: спикер (spiker)
→ Kazakh:
Cyrillic script: спикер (spiker)
Latin script: spiker

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: spiker

Cyrillic script: спикер

→ Spanish: speaker

→ Swahili: spika

→ Turkish: spiker

→ Ukrainian: спі́кер (spíker)

From Middle English speker, spekere, an alteration (with change of suffix) of Old English speca, spreca (“speaker”), from Proto-Germanic *sprekô (“speaker”), equivalent to speak + -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Spreeker (“speaker”), West Frisian sprekker (“speaker”), Dutch spreker (“speaker”), German Low German Spreker (“speaker”), German Sprecher (“speaker”).

puhuja

linguistics: producer of a given utterance

House of Representatives
House of Representatives

(politics) The chair or presiding officer of certain legislative bodies, such as the U.K. House of Commons or the U.S. House of Representatives.

խոսնակ

politics: the chair or presiding officer


sabre

Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Polish szabla, from Hungarian szablya. Cognate with Danish sabel, Russian са́бля (sáblja), Serbo-Croatian сабља, Sicilian sciàbbula.

(British spelling, Canadian spelling, fencing) A modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre.


conversation

en-noun

conversation (countable and uncountable, plural conversations)

[ˌkʰɒɱ.vəˈseɪ.ʃn̩]

[ˌkʰɑɱ.vɚˈseɪ.ʃn̩]

From Middle English conversacioun, from Old French conversacion and its etymon, Latin conversātiōnem, accusative singular of conversātiō (“conversation”), from conversor (“abide, keep company with”). Doublet of conversazione.
Morphologically converse + -ation.

(fencing) The back-and-forth play of the blades in a bout.