tyranny of the majority

en-noun

tyranny of the majority (countable and uncountable, plural tyrannies of the majority or tyrannies of majorities)

tyrannies of the majority (plural)
tyrannies of majorities (plural)

I suppose, however, that the secret voting has afforded, and will afford, an important security against the tyranny of the majority, which I consider as the greatest evil and the most formidable danger that can attend a purely democratical government.

1837, Testimony of Alexis de Tocqueville in "An abridgement of the evidence given before the select committee, appointed in 1835, to consider the most effectual means of preventing bribery, corruption and intimidation, in the election of members to serve in Parliament," Hume Tracts, London, p. 142

A popular will not so limited becomes the tyranny of the majority which destroys the freedom of political competition.

1957, Hans J. Morgenthau, “The Dilemmas of Freedom”, in The American Political Science Review, volume 51, number 3, page 718:

The biggest problem is the numerically larger group's use of elections and other legitimate democratic forms to ensure its dominance—a tyranny of the majority.

2003, Daniel Byman, “Constructing a Democratic Iraq: Challenges and Opportunities”, in International Security, volume 28, number 1, page 52:

(politics) A situation in which a government or other authority democratically supported by a majority of its subjects makes policies or takes actions benefiting that majority, without regard for the rights or welfare of the rest of its subjects.


headstamp

Photographs were taken of the weapons' serial numbers and [of the] markings on the bottoms of the cartridge casings, known as headstamps, which can reveal where and when ammunition was made.

2009 Chivers, C.J. (The New York Times), Is U.S. Ammo going to Taliban?; run in Austin American-Statesman, May 20, 2009, p A-1

(military, firearms) The identification marking on the base (bottom) of a cartridge casing.


M-day

(military) Abbreviation of mobilization day.


luminol

en-verb

luminol (third-person singular simple present luminols, present participle luminoling, simple past and past participle luminoled)

luminols (present singular third-person)
luminoling (participle present)
luminoled (participle past)
luminoled (past)

First use appears in 1934 in a paper by E. Huntress, L. Stanley, and A. Parker. The verbal form first appears c. 1997, although the exact date of its first appearance is uncertain.

Luminoling of material can establish unequivocally that no blood is present.

1997, United States. Court of Military Appeals, West Publishing Company (contributors), West's Military Justice Reporter, volume 46, page 860:

For two nights Patterson, Frosch, and Nabors Luminoled the house, checking and re-checking the evidence they found.

1997, Patricia Springer, Flesh and Blood, page 105:

Perhaps the auto warrant had gone through and the vehicle was being raked and combed and vacuumed and luminoled in some forensic garage.

2000, Jonathan Kellerman, Dr. Death, An Alex Delaware Novel, page 314:

The crime scene unit was all over the apartment, photographing, luminoling, vacuuming, plucking with tweezers.

2004, John Lutz, Darker Than Night, page 13:

Lester brings the hard-shelled golf bag in and Grissom luminols the interior of the case. The whole case fluouresces briefly then immediately fades, indicating the insides were bleached.

2004, Mike Flaherty, Corinne Marrinan, Anthony E. Zuiker, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Companion, page 201:

"You may not find it," McClure said. He answered Walt's puzzled expression by explaining," We luminoled her." He picked up a tube light from a workstation. "Get the lights," he said.

2007, Ridley Pearson, Killer Weekend, page 201:

He sighs. "The cops luminoled everyone at the hospital right after they got there. They all came out clean as a whistle."

2021, Antoinette van Heugten, Saving Max:

The Dassey garage was never luminoled or checked for forensic evidence of any type; blood found between the Dassey garage and residence was never tested.

2023, John Ferak, Wrecking Crew: Demolishing The Case Against Steven Avery:

The State Police come in later and find this stuff, but you know where they don't find any blood is in Omar Evans's office. They luminoled that whole place, and nothing.

2024, Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You, A Novel, page 183:

(transitive, criminology, law enforcement) To test or subject a sample or an individual to a luminol agent in order to locate traces of blood.

luminoli

chemical that exhibits blue chemiluminescence


vairy

vairé (alternative)
verré (alternative)
verrey (alternative)

(heraldry, of a field or charge) Divided into vair-bells of two or more tinctures.


noncabinet

(politics) Not of or pertaining to the cabinet.


duledge

The duledge pegs worked loose and dropped behind. Wheels began to break up.

1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter IV, in Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC:

(military) One of the dowels joining the ends of the fellies which form the circle of the wheel of a gun carriage.


glass jaw

An allusion to glass being easily breakable.

"How was I to know that big ape had a glass jaw?"

1989, Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, →ISBN, page 109:

Early in Ali's career, experts believed he had what's called a glass jaw—that he would fall after the first big punch. He was now proving that he could take a punch, but each punch chipped away at his health.

[2010, Stephen Timblin, Muhammad Ali: King of the Ring, Sterling, →ISBN, page 101:

(chiefly boxing) A fighting vulnerability where one is easily knocked out via a single hard blow to the chin or jaw (due to lack of conditioning, insufficient training, or damage from past cerebral concussions).


fretty

The coats of various noble British families were originally fretty, but later 'simplified' to a single fret

(heraldry) Covered with a lattice-like pattern of diagonally interlaced bendlets and bendlets sinister.


front line

front lines (plural)
front-line (alternative)
frontline (alternative)

(military) A front, or a boundary between opposing positions.

خَطّ أَمَامِيّ

military boundary between opposing positions


off the reservation

While politicians remained blackballed on opening night, the Clintonites' search for "real people" was not limited to the obscure. Thomason floated Billy Graham's name, but Hillary worried that he might get off the reservation on abortion.

1999, Martin Plissner, The Control Room: How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections:

(US, politics) Having broken with one's party or group, usually temporarily.


multimember

(politics, of a district) Having more than one member (political representative).


mirv

mirv (third-person singular simple present mirvs, present participle mirving, simple past and past participle mirved)

mirvs (present singular third-person)
mirving (participle present)
mirved (participle past)
mirved (past)

(transitive, military, slang) To attack with MIRV missiles.


diplomatic flu

The winner . . . was conservative Charles Griffin, 41, and he carefully avoided the race issue. Avoiding the campaign as well, Griffin stayed home with a case of diplomatic flu while Evers' forces staged a get-out-the-vote campaign.

1968 March 22, “Closer to Home”, in Time:

That is a carom-shot criticism of the administration, which has come down with a case of the diplomatic flu known as international conference-itis.

1988, George Will, "Democratic Double Standard," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11 Apr. (retrieved 31 Nay 2009)

While the Liberals may be considering the scenario of an epidemic of diplomatic flu to save themselves from toppling the minority government, no such virus will decimate Bloc ranks in the event of a confidence vote.

2007 October 3, Chantal Hébert, “Duceppe may bow out after fall campaign”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 2009-05-31:

(idiomatic, politics) An illness feigned by one or more government officials or other public figures as an excuse for an absence really based on political factors.


Medal of Honor

Franklin D. Roosevelt was yesterday posthumously awarded a special Medal of Honor by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives, press dispatches said.

1945 May 23, “FDR HONORED”, in Free Philippines, volume 3, number 24, page 1, column 2:

(US, military) The highest military award given in the United States.


firing line

(military) The line from which soldiers fire their weapons at a target; especially the front line of troops in a battle.


elephantry

From elephant + -ry, by analogy with infantry and cavalry.

But, juſt before we took the Field, we demoliſhed our Elephantry, and to be more on a Level with the Baboons, introduced Monkies upon lean Cats, and thoſe too a little wild, becauſe we could maintain them very cheap, Monkies being content with Nuts, and Cats with any Thing.

1747 February 5, “Nº 83. Thursday, February 5, 1747”, in The Fool: Being a Collection of Essays and Epistles, Moral, Political, Humourous^([sic]), and Entertaining. Published in the Daily Gazetteer. With the Author's Preface, and a Complete Index, volume II, London: Printed, and sold, by Nutt, Cooke and Kingman, at the Royal Exchange; [et al.], published 1748, →OCLC, pages 258–259:

The king replied in a proclamation to his subjects that he was going to appear in person "with large forces of infantry, artillery, elephantry, and cavalry, by land and water, and with the might of his army efface these heretic Kalas, and annex their country."

1889, William W[otherspoon] Ireland, Through the Ivory Gate: Studies in Psychology and History, Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 12 Bank Street; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., and Hamilton, Adams & Co., →OCLC, page 309:

The elephantry always preceded the army and was primarily used to clear the road, demolish enemy forts, launch night attacks and for defending their own forts and in transporting war materials.

2003, Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa, Generalissimo Chilarai and His Times: A Historical Biography, 2nd edition, Ghy, Assam, India: Vikram Publishers, →OCLC, page 390:

Ashok maintained a large army (infantry) more than nine lakhs, a few thousand cavalries and elephantries.

2005, K. K. Sinha, “A Brief History of the Ancient Indian Achievements”, in Oriental and Western Science and Cosmology, Mumbai: Allied Publishers, →ISBN, page 31:

(military, historical) That branch of an army that uses elephants.

Battle of Zama
Henri-Paul Motte
Second Punic War


DAO

en-noun

DAO (countable and uncountable, plural DAOs)

(firearms) Initialism of double action only, a trigger mechanism for revolving cylinder and semi-automatic firearms.


clout list

By the way, joining Ronan in the move from "10 worst" to the clout list is his on-and-off nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

1991 July 7, Thomas Hardy, “To make clout list, it's not what you know, but who you know”, in Chicago Tribune, page 4:

Gov. Blagojevich's office kept a clout list of hundreds of state employees recommended by lobbyists, lawmakers and major fund-raisers.

2006 May 17, Chris Fusco, Dave McKinney, “Governor's office kept clout list”, in Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved 2009-06-05:

The University of Illinois announced Monday that it will temporarily suspend the use of a clout list in the admissions process—a practice school officials first downplayed after it was described in a Tribune investigation.

2009 June 2, Stacy St. Clair, Jodi S. Cohen, “Clout Goes to College: Clout list put on suspension”, in chicagotribune.com, retrieved 2009-06-05:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, politics, ethics) A usually secret list containing the names of people who are to be given special access, benefits, or influence in a political or social situation, especially as a result of having personal, professional, or financial relationships with those in authority.


demilune

demilunes (plural)
demi-lune (alternative)
demi lune (alternative)

(military, architecture) A fortification constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.


designated survivor

designated survivor (plural designated survivors)

(US, government) A member of the cabinet who stays at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the president and all those in the line of succession are gathered at a single location, so as to provide a successor should a catastrophic event occur where the others die or are incapacitated.


bricole

From French bricole, from Late Latin briccola, bricola, of uncertain origin.

The Bricole, pierced for 60, mounting 44 guns, twenty four and eighteen pounders, ſunk, her captain, officers, and company priſoners.

1780, “A list of the rebel ship of war taken or destroyed in the harbour of Charles-Town”, in Henry Mayo, editor, The London Magazine, volume XLIX, page 295:

(military) A kind of traces with hooks and rings, used to drag manoeuvre guns where horses cannot be used.

And besides here are none of the old-time machines as elsewhere along our front; not a catapult, or bricole, or bible—as some, with wicked facetiousness, have named a certain invention for casting huge stones; nor have we yet heard the report of a cannon, or arquebus, or bombard, although we know the enemy has them in numbers.

1893, Lew Wallace, The Prince of India: or, Why Constantinople Fell, volume II, Books on Demand, published 2018, page 296:

(military, historical) An ancient kind of military catapult.


bug out

Attested 1950, popularized in the Korean War (1950–53) in such phrases as “bug-out fever” (rout) and “the big bug out” (November/December 1950 retreat) and entered civilian slang by mid 1950s. Likely originated in World War II, perhaps based on 1930s cartoons featuring bugs fleeing an impending foot or boot. Ultimately based on the rapid, disorderly flight of bugs when discovered, particularly their scattering if several are discovered at once, such as under a rock or can. Compare chicken out.

(military, slang) A rapid retreat, a rout.


OCB

(law enforcement) Initialism of organized crime bureau.


ogin

Unclear. Among various suggestions, it may be a corrupted form of hogwash (“swill”), of noggin (“a small measure of an alcoholic drink”), or of ocean.

Nobody has yet put up a suitable argument for *never* going into the ogin to help someone who can't raise their own head above the surface...

2004 April 6, DannyBoy, “Man Overboard Statistics....”, in uk.rec.sailing (Usenet):

(UK, chiefly nautical and navy) A large body of water including the sea or the ocean.


FIGMO

Initialism. The forget it usage is likely a retronym, coined to avoid using the profanity fuck.

(military, slang, vulgar) Acronym of fuck it, got my orders.

(military, slang, euphemistic) Acronym of forget it, got my orders.


Ababil

From Arabic أَبَابِيل (ʔabābīl, “tiny birds”), described in the Qur'an as dropping red clay bricks on the army of elephants, sent by the king of Yemen to attack the city of Mecca, in the year (571 AD) when the prophet Muhammad was born.


SACEUR

Supreme Allied Commander Europe
w:Supreme Allied Commander Europe

(military) Abbreviation of Supreme Allied Commander Europe.


SNP

These concerns were shared by other SNP women who told the Guardian there was a chronic lack of support from the party, including for those with younger families.

2025 March 23, Libby Brooks and Severin Carrell, “‘Hostile environment’ drives many of SNP’s female MSPs to step down before 2026 vote”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Initialism of Scottish National Party.


separate peace

(diplomacy) Peace concluded between enemies that has no impact on the relationships of either with the other's allies or cobelligerents.


ELAS

Roumeli belonged to ELAS, and the commander who first took him into his particular band was proudly and overtly Communist.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 190:

Looting and street fighting between armed gangs loyal to the Rallis government and to ELAS became daily occurrences in the city.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 285:

(politics) ΕΛΑΣ (Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός), the Greek People's Liberation Army, the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (ΕΑΜ) during the period of the Greek Resistance until February 1945.


LAOS

(politics) the Popular Orthodox Rally, a Greek political party (Λαϊκός Ορθόδοξος Συναγερμός).


EON

From Greek ΕΟΝ (EON), short for Εθνική Οργάνωση Νεολαίας.

(politics) The Greek National Organisation of Youth, similar to the Hitler Youth. It was formed before WWII and disbanded in 1941.


acoustic jamming

(military) The deliberate radiation or reradiation of mechanical or electroacoustic signals with the objectives of obliterating or obscuring signals that an enemy is attempting to receive and of disrupting enemy weapons systems.


field grade

In various armies, major is the lowest field grade, full colonel the highest field grade.

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(military) Each of the commissions which rank a (para)military officer below the (highest) class of general officers, but above other commissioned officers and NCOs.


PNV

(politics) Initialism of present, not voting: of a vote that may be cast in some legislatures to indicate abstention.


banneret

bannerets (plural)
bannerette (alternative)

From French banneret, from bannière (“banner”) + -et (“-et, -ette: forming diminutives”). Equivalent to banner + -et.

A list of new titles was manufactured as follows: Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth-Ardian, Third-Ardian, Second-Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal. […O]ne may regret “Banneret”, which has a flavour and associations, more especially as the leader of a formation in the air went into battle flying a streamer which formed a rallying mark as did the banner of the knight for his vassals.

1936, The Periodical, volumes 21-22, Oxford University Press, page 67:

(military, historical) A proposed but unadopted senior commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force equivalent to group captain.


terrasse

From French terrasse (“terrace”). Doublet of terrace.

(heraldry) A representation of the ground, serving as the base for another object; a terrace.


sinople

en-noun

sinople (countable and uncountable, plural sinoples)

sinoples (plural)
cinople (alternative)
sinoper (alternative)
sinopre (alternative)
sinoper (alternative)
synopre (alternative)
synopar (alternative)
synopeir (alternative)
synapour (alternative)
sinaper (alternative)
synaper (alternative)

From Old French sinople, from Latin Sinōpis, from Ancient Greek Σινωπίς (Sinōpís, “of Sinope”), a town that exported a red ocher. The unexpected change to meaning "green" in heraldry occurred in French texts around 1350 for unclear reasons.

der

In heraldry, sinople (the green of blazonry) also signified love, joy, abundance.

1903, George Field, Ellis A. Davidson, A grammar of colouring, applied to decorative painting and the arts:

Espinosa (Spain and Flanders) : Argent, a tree terrassé sinople, accosted by two wolves affrontés, sable […]

1903, Isidore Singer, Cyrus Adler, The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, page 128:

This shield argent with three lions sinople (green) has remained the coat of arms of the House of Lannoy. The young knight built a home in the woods around the seigneurie of Lys.

1984, Lucile Kathryn Delano, Charles De Lannoy, Victor of Pavia, →ISBN:


vergette

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


anticoalition

(military) Opposed to coalition or to a specific coalition.


autoload

en-verb

autoload (third-person singular simple present autoloads, present participle autoloading, simple past and past participle autoloaded)

autoloads (present singular third-person)
autoloading (participle present)
autoloaded (participle past)
autoloaded (past)

(firearms, weaponry) To load (firearms or artillery) automatically.


autoloading

(firearms, weaponry) The act or process of loading automatically, as done by an autoloader.


failed state

Initially applied to Somalia in the 1990s.

Against these stand the four national security arguments for intervention: fear of a rogue state, fear of a failed state, fear for the neighbours and fear for ourselves.

2011, Rory Stewart, “Here we go again”, in London Review of Books, 33.VII:

In July, the prime minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, called Haiti a “failed state,” and told local media that Caribbean leaders are considering opening direct talks with Haitian gang leaders to solve the country’s political crisis.

2022 September 16, Milo Milfort, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Andre Paultre, “Fuel Hike Plunges Haiti Into Near Anarchy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(politics) A state that has failed to meet the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government; one that has lost physical control of its territory, the ability to provide public services, etc.


nullifier

(US politics, historical) A person holding the belief that states could nullify federal laws within their borders.


BRIC

Coined by British economist Jim O'Neill in 2001.

coin

Now that the financial crisis has derailed BRIC and rich country alike, there are many good reasons for pessimism.

2009 February 4, Aliza Rosenbaum, Edward Hadas, “Buffett Pays Low for Another Icon”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:

(politics, economics) Initialism of Brazil, Russia, India and China: a group of countries with similarly fast-growing economies.


IDT

en-noun

IDT (countable and uncountable, plural IDTs)

inactive duty training
inactive duty training#English

(military, uncountable) Initialism of inactive duty training.


ISR

ISR (countable and uncountable, plural ISRs)

(uncountable, espionage) Initialism of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (“spycraft”).


judogi

judogis (plural)
judogi (plural)
jūdōgi (alternative)

Borrowed from Japanese 柔(じゅう)道(どう)着(ぎ) (jūdōgi). By surface analysis, judo + gi.

(judo) The uniform used for judo practice and competition, based on traditional Japanese clothing.


point of order

(politics) A motion calling attention to a breach of order of the rules.


TEC

I strap out, step out in every direction / Glock, TECs, jimmy hats, in case I need protection

1993, “Just Another Day”, in Black Reign, performed by Queen Latifah:

Rep your set, grab a TEC / Leave you wet and project / In the cut like Gillette / Where they serve and don't protect

2019, “ZUU”, in ZUU, performed by Denzel Curry:


birther

From birth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (“supporter”).

I confess I do have some sympathy for the "birthers," though. As an outsider, it's hard to distinguish between the zany arguments that get official approval by the conservative establishment --- things like Bill Ayers, Michelle Obama's infamous "whitey" tape, the claim that Obama is a closet Marxist --- and those arguments that are considered beyond the pale.

2008 December 8, Jay Bookman, “Shut up about the birth certificate”, in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, archived from the original on 2012-01-19:

Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.

2009 August 7, Paul Krugman, “The Town Hall Mob”, in New York Times:

Earlier this month, columnist and birther Frank Gaffney, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, and others held a news conference on Capitol Hill to release a report on Muslim religious law entitled "Shariah: The Threat to America."

2010 September 29, Mark Benjamin, “What Islamophobia really threatens”, in Salon:

(slang, derogatory, US politics) A believer in the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009–2017), is not a natural-born US citizen, and was therefore ineligible for the presidency under the United States Constitution (Article II, Section 1).

«рожде́нец»

(slang, derogatory, US politics) A believer in the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009-2017), was not born in that country, and therefore ineligible for presidency due to national law

[see title]

2020 August 13, Franco Ordoñez, “Trump and His Campaign Amplify Birther Conspiracy Against Kamala Harris”, in NPR:

On Thursday, he started floating a new birther lie about Sen. Kamala Harris, who, if elected, would be the first Black and Asian American vice president.

2020 August 13, Daniel Dale, Holmes Lybrand, Tara Subramaniam, CNN:

(slang, derogatory, US politics) More generally, anyone who questions the eligibility of a candidate for office based on their citizenship status.


birther

en-verb

birther (third-person singular simple present birthers, present participle birthering, simple past and past participle birthered)

birthers (present singular third-person)
birthering (participle present)
birthered (participle past)
birthered (past)
Birther (alternative)

2020, Andrew Solender, “'He Wasn't Born Here': Trump Birthers Biden Near Scranton Ahead Of DNC Acceptance Speech”, in Forbes:

(slang, derogatory, US politics) To question the eligibility of a candidate for office or the location of one's birth.


NuLab

New Labour rendered in Orwellian Newspeak.

We are totally opposed to the creeping privatisation of these services which NuLab has indicated it will commence once this election is safely out of the way.

2001, Patrick Harrington, Cliff Morrison, Third Way Manifesto:

(UK, informal, derogatory, UK politics) New Labour.


barium meal

The example of Oswald will show how the different operations of a dangle and a barium meal would work more efficiently together.

2017, Nancy Howell Lee, Peter Dale Scott, Bertram Gross, Forbidden Bookshelf's Resistance in America Collection:

(espionage, figurative) The deliberate release of traceable information to a suspect to see whether they leak it.


rehat

rehat (third-person singular simple present rehats, present participle rehatting, simple past and past participle rehatted)

rehats (present singular third-person)
rehatting (participle present)
rehatted (participle past)
rehatted (past)

The 6000-strong force was to have six infantry battalions, four being rehatted ECOMOG units already serving in Sierra Leone and two coming from Kenya[…]

2006, William J Durch, Twenty-first-century peace operations:

Aho takes note of the deficiencies in the contingent-owned equipment of rehatted troops, and requests the Secretary-General to review options[…]

2007, Yearbook of the United Nations 2005:

(military) To redeploy troops with different hats, uniforms, etc.


roulement

(British, military) a short deployed tour for a major combat unit or other grouping of personnel on a continuing operation.


end state

end states (plural)
endstate (alternative)

(military) The specified situation at the successful completion of the final phase of a military operation.


CMA

en-noun

CMA (countable and uncountable, plural CMAs)

... WILFORD J. WILLY CMA SR GRADE LIEUTENANT AND JOSEPH P. KENNEDY SR GRADE LIEUTENANT CMA BOTH USNR CMA WERE KILLED PD COMMANDER SMITH ...

1944, telegram to Gen. Carl Andrew Spaatz from Gen. Jimmy Doolittle; Edward Renehan, The Kennedys at War, 1937-1945 (2002), Doubleday, page 304

(US, military) Abbreviation of comma, used in communication systems without punctuation marks (e.g., telegrams).

(California, government) Initialism of congestion management agency.


CMA

Indeed, the more common complaint is that the regulator is too willing to accept an acquirer’s proposed remedies to competition concerns. Microsoft tried the remedy route with Activision but the CMA, unusually, wasn’t convinced. Tough.

2023 April 27, Nils Pratley, “Ignore Microsoft’s whines about the Activision takeover. The CMA did its job”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Competition and Markets Authority
w:Competition and Markets Authority

(UK politics) Initialism of Competition and Markets Authority.


essorant

(heraldry, of a bird) Standing, with wings spread, as if about to take flight.


apple of Grenada

apple of Grenada (plural apples of Grenada)

For this service, he received from that monarch a picturesque addition to the arms of the family, in the form of a canton charged with the pomegranate (the apple of Grenada), which, as it was borne by his collateral descendants[…]


rayonnant

(heraldry) Giving off rays like those of the sun; rayonné; radiant.


accolé

accolée (alternative)
accolee (alternative)

From French accolé, past participle of accoler.

[…] and those of his heiress-wife; under the mistaken impression that the shield so used, accolé to his own, is that of the lady, whereas in my view it is that to which he is himself entitled, and to which she is not.

1896, John Woodward, A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, page 146:

(Stratford, Earl of Aldborough.) Polack Sculp. Chippendale Armorial, two shields accolé, with supporters, on a mantle.
(Stratford (Edward), Earl of Aldborough). Armorial. Two Shields accolé, with supporters.

1905, Augustus Wollaston Franks, Ellis's Catalogue of British and American Book-plates (ex-libris), page 185:

However, the reverse-gilt glass panel, decorated with three accolé coats of arms and the date 1571, applied over the cartouche on the front of the ewer, ...

2012, Wolfram KoeppeClare Le CorbeillerWilliam RiederCharles TrumanSuzanne G. ValensteinClare Vincentet al., The Robert Lehman Collection: Decorative arts. XV, Metropolitan Museum of Art, →ISBN, page 134:

(heraldry) Joined or placed side by side (with); (of a pair of shields) displayed side by side and often leaning on or towards each other.


Frelimo

/fɹɛˈliːməʊ/

From Portuguese Frelimo, acronym of Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (“Mozambique Liberation Front”).

(politics) The nationalist political party of Mozambique, which fought for independence and formed the government after independence in 1975.


contractor combatant

contractor combatant (plural contractor combatants)

Author and United States Department of Defense (DoD) contractor Carter Andress coined the term “contractor combatant” in his book about the Iraq War titled Contractor Combatants: Tales of an Imbedded Capitalist.

(military, US) A civilian in a war zone who performs the tasks of an armed soldier under the Geneva Convention.


étincelé

(heraldry, rare) Semé (strewn) with sparks.


prolonge

(military, historical) A rope with a hook and a toggle, sometimes used to drag a gun carriage or to tie it to the limber, and for various other purposes.


protofascist

Even Lemon, for all her protofascist beliefs, wins our sympathy.

1991 August 9, Jack Helbig, “Marie and Bruce”, in Chicago Reader:

When Newt Gingrich and his protofascist comrades took over Congress in 1994, they sneeringly boasted that they intended to take the federal government back to the 1920s.

2008 April 7, Adolph Reed Jr., The Nation, archived from the original on 2009-03-18:

(politics) Showing the beginnings of fascism.


ployé

Thus, Argent, a chevron ployé gules (d'Argent, au chevron ployé de gueules) is the coat of the Danish AUGUSTINS or OWSTINS; the reverse is that of the RODENEGGS, Counts WOLKENSTEIN.

1892, John Woodward, George Burnett, A Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign: With English and French Glossaries, page 137:


destroyer escort

destroyer escort (plural destroyer escorts)

(US, military, nautical, historical) A type of warship, lighter in armor and armament, and slower than a destroyer, originally used for convoy escort during World War II; now considered a frigate.


destroyer leader

destroyer leader (plural destroyer leaders)

(military, nautical) a warship, a type of destroyer used to lead a division, flotilla or squadron at sea and in combat, a heavy destroyer variant with larger displacement for command and control.


cyclosarin

(organic chemistry, military) Cyclohexyl methylphosphonofluoridate, an extremely toxic nerve gas used as a chemical weapon.


puncto

From Latin punctum via Italian punto. Doublet of point, pointe, ponto, punctum, punt, and punto.


anarcho-capitalist

From anarcho- + capitalist.
From anarcho- + capitalist. Its possible earliest appearance is in the 1971 article “Know Your Rights” by Murray Rothbard, who is credited with coining it and its cognate anarcho-capitalism; though the latter's earliest extant attestation is in Karl Hess's 1969 article “The Death of Politics”.

ancap (alternative Internet)
an-cap (alternative Internet)
anarchocapitalist (alternative)

[…] Lysander Spooner’s brilliantly hard-hitting No Treason, one of the masterpieces of anti-statism and reprinted by an anarcho-capitalist press, has had considerable influence in converting present-day youth to libertarianism.

1971, Murray Rothbard, “Know Your Rights”, in WIN: Peace and Freedom through Nonviolent Action, volume 7, number 4, pages 6–10:

Even beyond the anarcho-capitalist cryptocurrency Bitcoin, many entrepreneurs make overtly political calls for private, extranational money, for direct and disintermediated economic communication, for either total privacy or total publicity in transactions.

2020, Lana Swartz, New Money: How Payment Became Social Media, Yale University Press, →ISBN, pages 4–5:

(politics, economics) Of, relating to, or advocating anarcho-capitalism.

anarkokapitalistisk

of, supporting, relating to, or advocating anarcho-capitalism


anarcho-capitalist

anarcho-capitalists (plural)
ancap (alternative Internet)
an-cap (alternative Internet)
anarchocapitalist (alternative)

It is safe to say that the great bulk of right-libertarians are anarcho-capitalists, particularly among the youth.

But Liberland is Mecca for libertarians' more radical strands, especially ‘anarcho-capitalists’, people who believe the state should be abolished entirely, replaced by individuals clubbing together to contract services from private companies.

2017, Jamie Bartlett, chapter 8, in Radicals, William Heinemann, →ISBN:

The Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, is a major supporter of the movement – which, like space colonization, seems to attract the enthusiasm of a certain kind of fantastically rich and rightwing tech baron.

2021 February 5, Matt Shaw, “Billionaire capitalists are designing humanity's future. Don't let them”, in The Guardian:

At his final campaign event in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, the 53-year-old “anarcho-capitalist” addressed a packed 15,000-capacity stadium from a stage adorned with a banner proclaiming him “The Only Solution” to Argentina’s economic malaise.

2023 October 22, Tom Phillips, Uki Goñi, “‘Bad and dangerous’: Argentina’s Trump on track to become president”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(politics, economics) A person who advocates anarcho-capitalism.


SOCOM

Special Operations
special operations#English

(military) Acronym of Special Operations Command.


SOCOM

(US, military) Abbreviation of U.S. Special Operations Command.


hashmagandy

(Australia, military, slang) An insipid army dish.


POI

/ˌpiː ˌəʊ ˈaɪ/

(ballistics) Initialism of point of impact.


bleu celeste

Borrowed from French bleu céleste (“sky blue”).

(heraldry) A rarely-occurring sky-blue tincture, lighter than azure.


mensurate

en-verb

mensurate (third-person singular simple present mensurates, present participle mensurating, simple past and past participle mensurated)

mensurates (present singular third-person)
mensurating (participle present)
mensurated (participle past)
mensurated (past)

(military) To measure accurately and precisely the position of an object. Not to be confused with refinement.


come in from the cold

come in from the cold (third-person singular simple present comes in from the cold, present participle coming in from the cold, simple past came in from the cold, past participle come in from the cold)

comes in from the cold (present singular third-person)
coming in from the cold (participle present)
came in from the cold (past)
come in from the cold (participle past)

/ˈkʌm‿ɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkəʊld/

John le Carré
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Literally, the term refers to someone who is outdoors when the weather is cold coming indoors to a warm place. The idiomatic senses were popularized by the title of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by the British author John le Carré (1931–2020); “the Cold” is a pun on the Cold War, during which the novel is set.

I mean … one can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold … do you see what I mean?

1963 September, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], “The Circus”, in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Coward-McCann, published 1964, →OCLC, page 23:

(espionage) Of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory.

palata kotiin

of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory


EGA

Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
w:Eagle, Globe, and Anchor

(military, US) Initialism of Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.


act of Congress

en-noun

act of Congress (plural acts of Congress)

From the literal sense of act (“legislation”) enacted by US Congress.

(literally, US politics) A statute enacted by the United States Congress.


barebow

(archery) Unassisted, with just a bow and no additional aids such as sights.


AOR

AOR (countable and uncountable, plural AORs)

auxiliary replenishment oiler
auxiliary replenishment oiler#English

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of auxiliary replenishment oiler.

area of responsibility
w:area of responsibility

(US, military) Initialism of area of responsibility.


JRM

Abbreviation of Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavenska Ratna Mornarica (“Yugoslav War Navy”).

der

(military, nautical) ship prefix for ship names of the Yugoslav navy


P.R.

[…] the biggest so-called boxer that ever sported buff in the P.R., in the person of Charles Freeman, weighing 18st., and standing 6ft. 10½in. in his stocking feet.

Henry Downes Miles, Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing (volume 3)

(boxing, archaic) Initialism of prize ring.


attentisme

(politics) A policy of waiting; a waiting game.


consociational

en-adj

consociational (comparative more consociational, superlative most consociational)

more consociational (comparative)
most consociational (superlative)

(politics, of a state) Having major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, with none of the divisions large enough to form a majority group, yet nonetheless stable due to consultation among the elites of each of its major social groups.

pacificatiepolitiek

Having major internal divisions, with none of the divisions large enough to form a majority group, yet nonetheless stable due to consultation among the elites


archconservatism

And since Brenton seems to want these characters to reflect life under Margaret Thatcher's archconservatism, his political analysis ends up as broad and oversimplified as the emotional palette he uses.

1994 January 21, Justin Hayford, “Greenland”, in Chicago Reader:


antibureaucratic

antibureaucratic (comparative more antibureaucratic, superlative most antibureaucratic)

more antibureaucratic (comparative)
most antibureaucratic (superlative)

I am a seriously antibureaucratic person.

1992 March 13, Jerry Sullivan, “Field & Street”, in Chicago Reader:


antimachine

His antimachine politicking helped get him fired from the Chicago Defender, a frequent supporter of organization candidates.

1988 March 25, Florence Hamlish Levinsohn, “Where Vernon Jarrett Is Coming From”, in Chicago Reader:

He recalls when Harold Washington, who ran for mayor on an antimachine, antipatronage platform, was a stalwart member of the regular organization. "

2000 July 21, Ben Joravsky, “Drivin' 'Em Crazy”, in Chicago Reader:

(politics) Opposing the political machine of a region


antipolitician

With little political experience, Hofeld is portraying himself as an outsider, an antipolitician.

1992 February 21, James Hawking, “More Than 30 Seconds With Al Hofeld”, in Chicago Reader:

In many ways, he could be the model of the antipolitician: he does not like coalition-building, negotiating or even socializing.

2008 April 29, Susan Saulny, “An Irascible Firebrand, Quieted by Term Limits”, in New York Times:

(politics) Someone who is the opposite of a typical politician

ანტიპოლიტიკოსი

someone who is the opposite of a typical politician


antioccupation

NIMNers have participated in post-September 11 peace rallies in Chicago and New York and maintain a weekly antioccupation vigil at noon Fridays outside the Tribune Tower.

2001 October 12, S.L. Wisenberg, “Lecture Notes: Jews united against violence”, in Chicago Reader:

In the incendiary speech delivered by his clerics on Friday, Mr. Sadr called for a peaceful antioccupation mass protest on April 9, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to American forces.

2007 March 31, Edward Wong, “Shiite Cleric Condemns U.S. as His Militia Takes to Streets”, in New York Times:

(politics, military) Opposed to a particular military occupation


artillerist

Pelham was, in spite of his youth, an artillerist of the first order of excellence, and his loss was a serious one, in spite of his inferior rank.

1876, John Esten Cooke, A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee:

The experiments were not very satisfactory. Mr. Coffin, perhaps, possibly, because he was not a skilled artillerist, had the mortifying experience of seeing the apparatus in front of his cannon blown into fragments, but he made notes of the other reports.

1898, William Elliot Griffis, Charles Carleton Coffin:

(military) A person who operates artillery.


BOLO

BOLOs (plural)
BOL (alternative)
bolo (alternative)

William Davis Jr. admitted he had been drinking and driving, but he said he shouldn’t have been caught. Even though police had issued a BOLO or “be on the lookout” for his car and an officer testified Davis made several traffic violations, he said there wasn’t enough probable cause for the initial traffic stop that turned into a DUI. […] Davis said he should not have been stopped because the BOLO for his car was not checked out before he was pulled over, but Justice Cornelia Clark pointed out that shouldn’t matter.

2015 September 10, “Knoxville attorney admits to DUI, argues he shouldn’t have been pulled over”, in WATE, archived from the original on 2016-08-20:

Police had issue[d] a BOLO alert for Brown and the children when he suddenly arrived in the emergency room of Central Florida Regional Hospital, looking for his wife.

2016 April 20, Mo Barnes, “Father kills estranged wife, shoots kids”, in RollingOut, retrieved 2017-06-16:

Freeman was able to locate the male and recognized him from a BOLO.

2017 June 13, Keith Lane, “Frederick Freeman named MPD Officer of the Month”, in Local 15, retrieved 2017-06-16:

(US law enforcement, acronym) A broadcast issued from a law enforcement agency to others, typically containing information about a wanted suspect, a person of interest, or a related vehicle.


political machine

en-noun

political machine (plural political machines)

They had no authority beyond that; for the inspection of meat to be sold in the city and state the whole force in Packingtown consisted of three henchmen of the local political machine!

1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

You have my word for it, sir. And the reason for it is that this hideous traffic is one of the main cogs in our political machine. The pimps and the panders, the cadets and maquereaux… they vote the ticket of the organization; they contribute to the campaign funds; they serve as colonizers and repeaters at the polls.

After all the discussion of the Kerner commission's report on urban problems, I've yet to hear a word concerning the consistency with which the ghetto population votes for the political machine that has abused it for so many years.

1968 March 30, Joseph A. Shea, “Letters to the Editor: Ghetto Vote for Political Machine”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

But the data was not forthcoming. It was hidden, which ended up serving the interests of the lobby group that dumped more than $2m into Cuomo’s political machine. That machine is now being deployed to vilify Kim, Biaggi and other Democrats who dare to demand answers about their constituents who were killed by Covid.

2021 February 18, David Sirota, “Cuomo-gate: a Nixonian scandal is engulfing New York”, in The Guardian, retrieved 2021-12-14:

(US politics, chiefly historical) A local political organization or individual politician that controls a large number of personal votes and can therefore exert political influence, and is therefore often viewed as scandalous.


pentarchy

From Late Latin pentarchia, from Ancient Greek πενταρχίᾱ (pentarkhíā), from πεντα- (penta-, “penta-, five”) + -αρχίᾱ (-arkhíā, “-archy, rule”), perhaps via Middle French pentarchie. Equivalent to pent- + -archy.


antireform

en-adj

antireform (comparative more antireform, superlative most antireform)

more antireform (comparative)
most antireform (superlative)

It was top-down, antireform politics.

1990 October 5, Ben Joravsky, “Annals of school reform: the security guard snafu”, in Chicago Reader:

Russia made good progress on privatization in 1993 despite active opposition from key cabinet members, hard-line legislators, and antireform regional leaders.

1994, United States Central Intelligence Agency, “Russia”, in 1994 CIA World Factbook:


antipatronage

A series of antipatronage court rulings had loosened his hold over city workers; demographically, his ward was becoming more like a north lakefront district.

1999 December 24, Ben Joravsky, “Looking Out For Number Two”, in Chicago Reader:

(politics) Opposing or seeking to prohibit political patronage


antiadministration

antiadministration (comparative more antiadministration, superlative most antiadministration)

more antiadministration (comparative)
most antiadministration (superlative)

Alderman Joseph Moore is that rarest of Chicago political creatures, a white antiadministration alderman.

1996 March 15, Cate Plys, “City Council Follies”, in Chicago Reader:

(politics) Opposing a particular administration


antibusing

antibusing (comparative more antibusing, superlative most antibusing)

more antibusing (comparative)
most antibusing (superlative)

In years following, local schools were shaken by angry antibusing protests.

1990 April 6, Ben Joravsky, “The next hot neighborhood is . . . the southwest side?”, in Chicago Reader:

(US politics) Opposing the use of busing to achieve racial integration in schools.


antiincinerator

By the time the new combined task force met July 16, Greene had attended three different gatherings of grass-roots antilandfill and antiincinerator groups--in southwest Chicago, south-suburban University Park, and downstate Bloomington--and they had given him his marching orders: No megadeal.

1990 September 28, Harold Henderson, “What a Waste!”, in Chicago Reader:

(politics) Opposing an incinerator; usually opposing the siting of a particular incinerator in a particular community


warfighting

In addition he should announce that the so-called "tactical Trident", where some missiles carrying only one warhead for use in regional wars, will no longer be deployed – that Britain considers nuclear weapons only as a strategic deterrent against the use of nuclear forces, not as a warfighting weapon.

2009 September 24, Martin Butcher, “Brown can be bold on disarmament”, in Guardian:

He [Pete Hegseth] added that any general involved with D.E.I. efforts should be fired. “Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it,” he said. “That’s the only litmus test we care about.”

2025 February 22, Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper, Jonathan Swan, “Trump Fires Joint Chiefs Chairman Amid Flurry of Dismissals at Pentagon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, often attributive) The fighting of a war.


Leader of the Opposition

en-noun

Leader of the Opposition (plural Leaders of the Opposition)

Leaders of the Opposition (plural)
leader of the opposition (alternative)

(politics, UK) In a house of legislature following the model of the Westminster system (such as the UK House of Commons), the parliamentary leader of the largest political party not forming the government.

Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom

Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons


Blue Dog

Various, including the presence of the "Blue Dog" paintings of Louisiana artist George Rodrigue in the offices of Louisiana representatives where early meetings were held.

(US politics) A member of the Blue Dog Coalition, founded in 1994, of conservative and moderate members of the Democratic Party.


RHU

(Philippines, healthcare) Initialism of rural heath unit.


cryptomaterial

cryptomaterial (countable and uncountable, plural cryptomaterials)

(chiefly military) Any material, such as documents or devices, used in cryptography.


saltirewise

(heraldry) In the form of a saltire; crossing diagonally.


PSG

Presidential Security Group
w:Presidential Security Group

(Philippines, military) Initialism of Presidential Security Group.


whateverism

whateverism (countable and uncountable, plural whateverisms)

The critique of “whateverism” picked up added momentum in late June, when People's Daily published an article by a “special correspondent” who argued that it was not necessarily a revisionist sin to update the Thought of Mao Zedong periodically in accordance with the requirements of a changing reality.

1994, Richard Baum, Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the Age of Deng Xiaoping, updated edition, Princeton University Press, published 2018, →ISBN, page 59:

(politics) Adherence to the Two Whatevers: "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave."


reccy

reccy (countable and uncountable, plural reccies)

Phipps went on: “One of our chaps, out on a reccy over the Bulgarian front, thought he saw something in the snow. Something fishy. He dropped down to have a dekko and nearly had kittens. What d'you think? Jerry's got a mass of stuff there—tanks, guns, lorries, every sort of heavy armament. All camouflaged. White.”

2011 [1965], Olivia Manning, Friends And Heroes (The Balkan Trilogy), Random House, →ISBN:


reccy

en-verb

reccy (third-person singular simple present reccies, present participle reccying, simple past and past participle reccied)

reccies (present singular third-person)
reccying (participle present)
reccied (participle past)
reccied (past)
recce (alternative)

(military slang) To investigate with a reconnaissance trip.


badelaire

Borrowed from French badelaire, baudelaire, a corruption of earlier (14th century) baselard.

(heraldry) This sword used as a heraldic charge.


Gang of Four

the Gang of Four (canonical)
gang of four (alternative)

Calque from Chinese 四人幫／四人帮 (sìrénbāng).

zh-l

四人幫／四人帮 (sìrénbāng)

Once control of the media was wrested from Mao's most strident defenders, the abusive language Chiang Ch'ing had used against her enemies over the years was hurled back at her. The verbal weapons borrowed from Lu Hsun backfired. "Ruthlessly beat the dog in the water," her enemies repeated as they vowed to fight the Gang of Four to the finish. Their claims to have been the standard-bearers of the much-exploited Lu Hsun were mocked.

1977, Roxane Witke, Comrade Chiang Chʻing, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 472:

Chinese and Japanese scholars attending a symposium on the problems facing the Peiping regime Dec. 17 reached the conclusion that the trial of the "gang of four" and six other defendants in Peiping is actually a trial of Mao Tse-tung and his thought.

1980 December 21, “Along with 'gang of four' Mao's thought goes on trial in Peiping”, in Free China Weekly, volume XXI, number 50, Taipei, →ISSN, page 1:

(China, historical, politics) A radical political faction composed of four Communist Party of China officials that came to prominence during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.


autoloader

en:device to load artillery or similar guns

(military) A mechanical device that loads ordnance into weapons such as tanks and artillery that would otherwise be loaded by a dedicated crew.


money bomb

Coined in 2007 by the presidential campaign of Ron Paul.

He set up a website that solicited pledges for contributions to be made directly to the Paul campaign on that day — a technique that became known as a "money bomb," which he used again to such great effect Sunday.

2007 December 17, Kenneth P. Vogel, “'Money bomb': Ron Paul raises $6 million in 24-hour period”, in USA Today:

After the November 5th money bomb, an Obama supporter tried to have a money bomb for Obama.

2008, Mark Frazier, Ron Paul Revolution: History in the Making, page 98:

(US, politics) An intense, short-term Internet fundraising campaign, usually taking 24 hours or less.


RHIP

(military, Internet) Initialism of "rank has its privilege" or "rank hath its privileges".


Kriegsmarine

(historical, military, nautical, World War II) The navy of Nazi Germany.


bowshot

It is, however, interesting in connection with that fact to remember that the last bowshot in English warfare was fired during the Civil War.

1900, Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson, The Antiquary, page 113:

(archery) The act of firing an arrow from a bow.


sinisterwise

(heraldry, archaic) Sinister; on the left-hand side from the wearer's viewpoint.


dexterwise

[...] on the reverse is a fish, naiant dexterwise; the diameter is 0.02, and the material copper, silver being the only other metal used.

1876, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, page 273:

In his day, however, only two types were known, one with an amphora and the other with a goat on the reverse, the obverse of both showing a helmeted head of Pallas facing dexterwise.

1879, Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain), The Journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London, page 165:

Or, a lion's gamb, erased dexterwise gules.

1884, Jacob Youde William Lloyd, The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd, page 198:

(heraldry, archaic) Dexter; on or toward the right-hand side from the wearer's perspective.


hammerless

(firearms) Without a visible hammer; said of a gun having a cock or striker concealed from sight, and out of the way of an accidental touch.


RHA

(military) Initialism of rolled homogeneous armo(u)r.


RHA

Royal Horse Artillery
w:Royal Horse Artillery

(military) Initialism of Royal Horse Artillery, four units of the British Army.


RHAe

(military) Initialism of rolled homogeneous armo(u)r equivalency.


minority council

en-noun

minority council (plural minority councils)

(politics) a civic governing coalition whereby the Mayor's political allies in city council hold a minority of the seats; a form of minority government . As a Mayor may be directly elected, the allied councillors need not hold a plurality of the seats, the opposition alliance on council may contain a majority of the seats on council.


formée

Crest, two lances or, in saltier, headed ar. pennons hanging to them of the first, each charged with a cross formée gu.

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


grand rounds

(military) A tour of inspection by a general officer or commander, visiting all the guards in the officer's command.


Big Blue

(US, military, informal) The US Air Force.


IEA

w:Institute of International and European Affairs

(politics) Initialism of Institute of International and European Affairs: an Irish policy think tank.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
w:Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

(historical, military) Initialism of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: a totalitarian Islamic state established by the Taliban.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

"The European economic and welfare model – I think it's over," says Mark Littlewood, director of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), like the CPS a veteran British free-market thinktank reinvigorated by current possibilities.

2012 August 22, Andy Beckett, “Britannia Unchained: the rise of the new Tory right”, in The Guardian:

Institute of Economic Affairs
w:Institute of Economic Affairs

(UK politics, economics) Initialism of Institute of Economic Affairs: a British neoliberal think tank.


chinny

en-adj

chinny (comparative chinnier, superlative chinniest)

chinnier (comparative)
chinniest (superlative)


palanka

From Ottoman Turkish پلانقه (palanka). Doublet of planch, plank, and phalanx.

(military, historical) A permanently entrenched wooden camp attached to Turkish frontier fortresses.


executive committee

en-noun

executive committee (plural executive committees)

cabinet of ministers
cabinet of ministers

(government, politics, Quebec) the equivalent of the cabinet of ministers for a city government, serving the mayor.


jab artist

(boxing) A boxer who fights with short jab-like punches.


antiradar

an antiradar coating

(military) Preventing detection by radar.


OSCE

w:Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

(politics) Initialism of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.


stand easy

(military) a command to soldiers standing at ease that they may relax further


forcené

From French forcené (“rabid”), past participle of forcener (“to go mad, become enraged”), from Middle French, from Old French forsener (“to be mad with rage”) (compare Old French forsenede (“one who has lost his mind”)), from for- + sen (“sense, reason, mind”), from Frankish *sinn (“sense, mind, judgement”).
Cognate with German Sinn (“sense, meaning, mind”), Dutch zin (“sense, desire”). More at for-, sense.

der

[…] sinister parted per fess Gules and Azure, in chief a horse forcené Argent between in sinister chief and dexter base an ancient crown Or, and in base a cross Gules fimbriated Argent between in each quarter five plates in saltire,[…]

2021 October 13, Judith Nasby, The Making of a Museum, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, →ISBN, page 122:

[…] leading troops in the background, his horse forcené, his right arm gesturing both ahead to the summit and.

2022 January 18, Charles Caramello, Riding to Arms: A History of Horsemanship and Mounted Warfare, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN:

(chiefly heraldry, in reference to a horse) Rearing on the hind legs. (When another animal has this posture, it is termed rampant.)


catapeltic

PIE word
 *ḱóm
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (kătăpeltĭkós, “of or for a catapult”) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (Kătăpeltĭkós) is derived from κᾰτᾰπέλτης (kătăpéltēs) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns); while κᾰτᾰπέλτης (kătăpéltēs) is a literary form of κᾰτᾰπᾰ́λτης (kătăpắltēs, “catapult; torture instrument”), from κᾰτᾰ- (kătă-, prefix meaning ‘against’) + πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown; to brandish a weapon; (passive) to swing or dash oneself”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive; to push”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming masculine agent nouns).
The noun is derived from the adjective.

lbor

κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός

der

[T]he superior discipline and skill of the Romans were fully compensated by the strength of position and the catapeltic engines of the Macedonians.

1835, William Martin Leake, “Illyria, Epirus”, in Travels in Northern Greece. […], volume I, London: J. Rodwell, […], →OCLC, page 386:

[Dionysius, governor of the Cassandrian garrison of Munychia] held out valiantly for two days; but at length the superior forces of the enemy, and the mischief done by their catapeltic engines, drove the defenders from the walls, when Demetrius [of Phalerum] entered the fortress, Dionysius was taken, and his garrison laid down their arms: […]

1841, William Martin Leake, “Section IX. Of Maritime Athens, and Its Divisions, Peiræeus, Munychia, and Phalerum.—Their Harbours, Monuments, and Fortifications.”, in The Topography of Athens. With Some Remarks on Its Antiquities, 2nd edition, London: […] J. Rodwell, […], →OCLC, page 409:

The western or outer, which was the narrowest front of the fortress, consisted of four towers of solid regular masonry connected by walls of equal breadth, but lower than the towers, so that balistic or catapeltic engines might be mounted upon the walls between the towers, like cannon in embrasures.

1848 February 24 – March 23, William Martin Leake, “VII.—Topographical and Historical Notes on Syracuse.”, in Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, volume III (Second Series), London: John Murray, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 255:

Has not the pulpit, which was ordained to the exhibition of Christ crucified as the Healer of human woe, been made the arena of inflammatory debate, the platform of catapeltic controversy, destructive rather than conservative, more the instrument of the Furies than of the Graces?

1859, Baron Stow, “Considerations that Render Christian Union Desirable”, in Christian Brotherhood: A Letter to the Hon. Heman Lincoln, Boston, Mass.: Gould and Lincoln, […], →OCLC, pages 64–65:

It missed the other's jaw by two inches, that catapeltic blow—striking him full in the mouth, breaking his yellow teeth and smashing his thick lips so that the blood sprang out in a spray over his hairy chest, and as his head rocked backward David followed with a swift left-hander, and a second time missed the jaw with his right—but drenched his clenched fist in blood.

1918, James Oliver Curwood, chapter XXIV, in The Courage of Marge O’Doone, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co., […], →OCLC, page 263:

Today I will transform you into a catapeltic arrow, / and I'll send you spinning like a missile from a catapult.

2010, Michael Fontaine, “Equivocation and Other Ambiguities”, in Funny Words in Plautine Comedy, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 118:

(military, weaponry, archaic) Pertaining to a catapult or catapults.

catapeltique

pertaining to a catapult or catapults — see also catapultic


catapeltic

lbor

κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός

That artillery which afterward so much promoted the victories of the Roman armies, machinery for shooting darts and stones of size far beyond the strength of man's arm to throw, (Diodorus [Siculus] calls it the catapeltic) was now either invented, or first perfected, so as to be valuable for practice.

1808, William Mitford, “Affairs of the Sicilian and Italian Greek Cities, from the Establishment of the Syracusan Empire to the Death of Dionysius”, in The History of Greece, volume IV, London: […] Luke Hansard & Sons, […], for T[homas] Cadell and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, section I, page 69:

(military, weaponry, obsolete, rare) A catapult.


vice squad

The film is about a big city police vice squad, and the action opens with Gould and Blake posing as "fairies" in order to raid and 'bustup' a gay bar.

1974 February 2, “Notices”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 6:

(law enforcement, criminology) A police section specialized in vice crimes.


change hand

en-verb

change hand (third-person singular simple present changes hand, present participle changing hand, simple past and past participle changed hand)

changes hand (present singular third-person)
changing hand (participle present)
changed hand (participle past)
changed hand (past)

(military, archaic) To turn a horse around; especially, when exercising in a circle, to cross the center and resume circling in the other direction.


boots on the ground

First appears c. 1980 in the US. Attributed to the United States General Volney F. Warner, as quoted in the Christian Science Monitor (April 11, 1980) in reference to the Iranian hostage crisis

The Pentagon may say we have enough, but that's not what I'm hearing from the boots on the ground.

(military, metonymic) The ground forces actually fighting in a war or conflict, rather than troops not engaged or other military action such as air strikes.

So often boots on the ground is the American Way.

2012, Georgia McDade, Outside the Cave II, page 30:

At the same time, when options are considered, political parties and the media are interested in knowing whether boots on the ground is an option put on the table.

2015, Helene Dieck, The Influence of Public Opinion on Post-Cold War U.S. Military Interventions:

The military policy of using ground forces.


barwise

en-adv

barwise (comparative more barwise, superlative most barwise)

more barwise (comparative)
most barwise (superlative)


bendwise

bendwise (comparative more bendwise, superlative most bendwise)

more bendwise (comparative)
most bendwise (superlative)

Az. a bend or betw. two dolphins embowed bendwise arg.

1892, Aaron Davis Weld French, Index Armorial to an Emblazoned Manuscript of the Surname of French: Franc, Francois, Frene and Others, Both British and Foreign, Boston, Priv. print., page 49:

(heraldry) Diagonally; placed like a bend, i.e. running from the dexter chief to the sinister base.


chevronwise

chevronwise (comparative more chevronwise, superlative most chevronwise)

more chevronwise (comparative)
most chevronwise (superlative)
chevronways (alternative)

CHEVRONNE, or Chevronny, ſignifies the dividing of the ſhield ſeveral times chevron-wiſe.

1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., volume II, page 183:

(heraldry) Synonym of chevrony: chevron-like, in the manner of a chevron.


fesswise

(heraldry) In the manner of a fess; as a broad horizontal stripe.


palewise

An oblong figure fesswise divided palewise, from one end a thick projection, and in chief a crescent.

2007, Colin Stewart Sinclair Lyon, Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, Oxford University Press, USA:

(chiefly heraldry) Divided by perpendicular vertical lines like pales.

Erm. three longbows palewise in fess gu.

1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 348:

Three roundels in chief and two horse-shoes palewise in base, probably intended for the arms of Daubeney and Ferrers.

1904, Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, page 511:

Anchor: Placed palewise, unless otherwise blazoned

1965, Heather Child, Heraldic Design: A Handbook for Students, Genealogical Publishing Com, →ISBN, page 82:

In place of the rainbow there was, palewise on a field of gules, on either side of the shield, the broken lance which had caused the death of Henri II—Lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor was the motto. And to this symbolism of mourning was also[…]

2019 July 2, Jean Heritier, Catherine de Medici, Routledge, →ISBN:

In one shield the lis are positioned vertically or palewise, […] and the Poutrel lis were shown bend-wise in the glass at Prestwold church and pale-wise in Thomas Jenyns' Ordinary.

2020 January 9, Paul A. Fox, Great Cloister: A Lost Canterbury Tale: A History of the Canterbury Cloister, Constructed 1408-14, with Some Account of the Donors and their Coats of Arms, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 540:

(chiefly heraldry) In the direction of or positioned like a pale: vertically.


palewise

It is essentially the upper portion (or triangle) of the saltire met slightly above the fess point by a palewise line originating from the middle base. No varied field Bendy seems to have been adopted from this division.

1972, Marvin H. Pakula, Heraldry and Armor of the Middle Ages:

Party - in ancient heraldry, the word party, used alone, implied a palewise division of the field.

1983, Charles Boutell, Boutell's Heraldry, Frederick Warne Publishers:


Bailey bridge

Invented by Donald Bailey, British civil servant.

■ More than 1,200 Bailey Bridges, a system developed by the British but also used by the Americans, were constructed, principally for use by the railways.

2023 June 28, Christian Wolmar, “The railway's crucial role in the Normandy invasion”, in RAIL, number 986, page 45:

(engineering, military) A portable, prefabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units.


Mabey bridge

From the name of the manufacturer, from its founder Bevil Mabey.

(engineering, military) A portable, prefabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units. A recent development from the older Bailey bridge.


PAF

(Pakistan, military) Initialism of Pakistan Air Force.

Philippine Air Force
w:Philippine Air Force

(Philippines, military) Initialism of Philippine Air Force.


MAF

Malaysian Armed Forces
w:Malaysian Armed Forces

(Malaysia, military) Initialism of Malaysian Armed Forces.


IAB

internal affairs
internal affairs#English

(law enforcement) Initialism of internal affairs bureau.


QPF

(law enforcement, Quebec) SQ — Quebec police force — Sûreté du Québec


SQ

(law enforcement) Sûreté du Québec - the Quebec provincial police force.


Sûreté du Québec

(Quebec, law enforcement) the Quebec provincial police force


SPVM

From French SPVM. initialism of Service de police de la ville de Montréal

init of

(law enforcement) Montreal police service — the police for the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada


police department

en-noun

police department (plural police departments)

(law enforcement) Police force, especially a local or regional branch of a national police force.

poliisilaitos

police force, especially a local or regional branch of a national police force


Sûreté

(law enforcement) The Sûreté Nationale of France.

(law enforcement, Quebec) The Sûreté du Québec.


RCAF

Royal Canadian Air Force
w:Royal Canadian Air Force

(Canada, military, aviation) Initialism of Royal Canadian Air Force.


CAF

Canadian Armed Forces
w:Canadian Armed Forces

(Canada, military) Initialism of Canadian Armed Forces.

(Canada, military, aviation, historical) Initialism of Canadian Air Force, predecessor of the Royal Canadian Air Force


HDMS

(military, nautical) Initialism of His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship, a ship name prefix for a naval ship of the navy of Denmark.

KDM

short for 'Kongelige Danske Marine', (Royal Danish Navy)


HBMS

(UK, military, nautical, obsolete) Initialism of His/Her Britannic Majesty's Ship, replaced by HMS (His/Her Majesty's Ship).


HNMS

(military, nautical) His/Her Norwegian Majesty's Ship

(military, nautical) His/Her Dutch Majesty's Ship


HNLMS

(military, nautical) Her Dutch Majesty's Ship

(military, nautical) His Dutch Majesty's Ship


HNoMS

(military, nautical) Initialism of his/her Norwegian majesty's ship.


mitraille

From Old French mitaille (“small coins; hence scrap iron, old iron; then grapeshot”); originally diminutive of mite (“small coin”). See also mitrailleur.

uder

(military, historical) shot or bits of iron used sometimes in loading cannon


up-armored

(military, of a Humvee or other combat vehicle) Having had its armor upgraded.


HSwMS

(military, nautical) Initialism of His/Her Swedish Majesty's Ship; a ship prefix for a naval ship of the navy of Sweden.


balisage

(military) The use of dim lighting to enable navigation without giving away one's position to the enemy.


SPAD

(UK politics, informal) Alternative form of spad (“special advisor in government”).

(military) Initialism of self-propelled air defense; a self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle.


CROWS

w:Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station

(military, US) Acronym of Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station.


gillyflower

gillyflowers (plural)
gilliflower (alternative)
gilli-flower (alternative)
gilly-flower (alternative)
July-flower (alternative)
gilliver (alternative)
gilloflower (alternative)

By folk etymology (with influence from flower) from French girofle, gilofre, from Late Latin caryophyllum, from Ancient Greek καρυόφυλλον (karuóphullon, “dried flower buds of the clove tree”).

der

(heraldry) A stylized representation of a carnation blossom, usually red, and shown with or without a slip and leaves.


WO

WOs (plural)
W.O. (alternative)
W. O. (alternative)

(military) Initialism of warrant officer.


SPCUM

Montreal Urban Community
Montreal Urban Community

(law enforcement) the Montreal Urban Community police service (Service de police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, SPCUM) — replaced by the SPVM


MTC

Major Trauma Centre
w:Major Trauma Centre

(healthcare) Initialism of Major Trauma Centre, a specialist unit within the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, set up to provide specialised trauma care and rehabilitation.


MUC

Montreal Agglomeration Council
Montreal Agglomeration Council

Conseil d'agglomération de Montréal
Conseil d'agglomération de Montréal

(government, acronym) the Montreal Urban Community — the supramunicipal level of government for the island of Montreal and several surrounding islands. It was formed in 1970, and in 2002 it was replaced by the MMC, it area was subsumed into the megacity of Montreal. It was reformed in 2006 as the Montreal Agglomeration Council (Conseil d'agglomération de Montréal).

(military, US, acronym) Meritorious Unit Commendation.


MMC

Montreal Metropolitan Community
Montreal Metropolitan Community#English

(government) Initialism of Montreal Metropolitan Community.


cinquefoil

cinquefoils (plural)
cinqfoil (alternative)
quinquefoil (alternative)

/ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl/

/ˈsæŋkˌfɔɪl/

From Old French cinqfoil, from cinq (“five”) + foil (“leaf”).

(heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with five lobes.

quinquefoli

heraldry: stylized flower or leaf with five lobes


sexfoil

(heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with six lobes


close ranks

en-verb

close ranks (third-person singular simple present closes ranks, present participle closing ranks, simple past and past participle closed ranks)

closes ranks (present singular third-person)
closing ranks (participle present)
closed ranks (participle past)
closed ranks (past)

(military) To close the spacing between lines (ranks) of troops, as they are deployed across a battlefield, thereby decreasing the depth of the formation as it faces the enemy side.


hypaspist

en-noun

hypaspist (plural hypaspists or hypaspistai)

hypaspists (plural)
hypaspistai (plural)

From Ancient Greek ὑπασπιστής (hupaspistḗs, “shield bearer”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + ἀσπίς (aspís, “shield”) + -τής (-tḗs, “suffix forming agent noun”).

bor

Meanwhile Darius had loosed his scythed cars, to whirl destruction into the ranks of the Companions and the hypaspists. But the archers and the Agrian spear-throwers received them with showers of spears and arrows; some of these active hillsmen seized the reins of the horses and pulled the riders from their seats, while the hypaspists, swiftly and undismayed, opened their ranks, and the terrible chariots rattled harmless down the intervals.

1900, John Bagnell Bury, A History of Greece: To the Death of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press, page 777:

1988 [CUP], A. B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press (Canto), 1993, page 259,
The other major component of the Macedonian infantry was the corps of hypaspists. This force had evolved from the old bodyguard of the Macedonian kings and its nucleus, the agema, still acted as Alexander's guard when he fought on foot. The rest of the hypaspists were organised in chiliarchies (units of 1,000), perhaps three in number.

2013, Michael Taylor, Antiochus the Great, Pen & Sword Books (Pen & Sword Military), unnumbered page,
Perhaps fearful of blame in the event of failure, Lagoras asked that two of the King's favourites join the assault, Theodotus the Aetolian and Dionysius, the commander of the hypaspists, an elite subset of the Silver Shields.

(historical, military, Ancient Greece) A type of lightly armoured foot soldier equipped with an aspis (shield) and spear.


semi-infinite

(ballistics, of a target) Sufficiently thick that the level of penetration of a projectile is not affected by its thickness.


anticrisis

The anticrisis measures in the form of the trigger prices were only one element of the government's program for steel.

1982, John Pinder, National industrial strategies and the world economy:

(politics) Intended to prevent or counter a crisis.


tiercé

(heraldry) Divided into three equal parts of three different tinctures; said of an escutcheon.


ravissant

(heraldry) In a half-raised position, as if about to spring on prey.

The Counts of Miranda quarter this coat with (2 and 3):—Arg. two wolves passant in pale Sa., each ravissant a lamb of the first; within a bordure Gu. charged with eight aspas Or for Avellenada..

And it came to pass that Clément Chardin des Lupeaulx, whose father was ennobled by Louis XV., and bore quarterly; of the first, argent, a wolf sable, ravissant, carrying a lamb, gules; of the second, purpur, three buckles argent, two and one; of the third, barry of six, gules and argent; of the fourth, gules, a caduceus winged and wreathed with serpents, vert; with four griffins' claws for supporters; and EN LUPUS In HISTORIA for a motto, managed to wurmount his half-burlesque escutcheon with a Count's coronet.

1900, Honoré de Balzac, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, page 387:


kiss the gunner's daughter

en-verb

kiss the gunner's daughter (third-person singular simple present kisses the gunner's daughter, present participle kissing the gunner's daughter, simple past and past participle kissed the gunner's daughter)

kisses the gunner's daughter (present singular third-person)
kissing the gunner's daughter (participle present)
kissed the gunner's daughter (participle past)
kissed the gunner's daughter (past)

But I was punished, my lad—made to kiss the wench that never speaks but when she scolds, and that's the gunner's daughter, comrade.

1824, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 14, in Redgauntlet:

"No," replied Bosun Thorpe, "for any breaches of discipline by boy seamen are dealt within by making him, in naval jargon, ‘kiss the gunner's daughter’. . . . he bends over one of the guns; then he is lashed across the backside."

2002, Wallace Bruce, John Paul Jones: Father of the United States Navy, →ISBN, page 81:

(archaic, idiomatic, naval) To be flogged or beaten while restrained over a cannon.


preselection

en-noun

preselection (countable and uncountable, plural preselections)

preselections (plural)
pre-selection (alternative)

The preselection in Mr Costello's Victorian seat of Higgins will start in April, when he will have to reveal whether he will stand for another term.

2009 February 17, Malcolm Farr and AAP, “Former Opposition leader Brendan Nelson to quit politics”, in Herald Sun, archived from the original on 2009-02-19:

(politics) The process by which a candidate for public office is selected, usually by a political party


Teabagistan

(US politics, slang) An idealized, rural, conservative version of America, as recalled by Tea Party members.


PCA

The PCA was demonstrably a Communist-front organization, and most of the Hollywoodites whom it rallied to its support were members of the Communist Party, some of them having been notorious as such for many years.

1956, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities, Hearings, page 171:

Progressive Citizens of America
w:Progressive Citizens of America

(US, politics, historical) Initialism of Progressive Citizens of America.


paleoconservative

paleoconservatives (plural)
palaeoconservative (alternative)

From paleo- + conservative, by analogy with neoconservative.

In fact, the neoconservative Moynihan running in New York against the paleoconservative James Buckley was able to position himself as the proper heir to a New Deal liberal tradition that Moynihan had been vigorously criticizing for almost a decade.

1979 February 13, “The Neocons”, in Esquire:

If they are fraying now, it is at least in part due to the prevalence of demagogues who wish to claim that there is only one path to virtuous American-ness: paleoconservatives like Jesse Helms and Pat Robertson who think this country has one single ethic, […].

1992, Robert Hughes, “The Fraying of America”, in Time, archived from the original on 2010-01-03:

As noted earlier, immigration was the issue that sent the open border Right on a search-and-destroy mission against paleoconservatives.

1999, Joseph Scotchie, The Paleoconservatives, page 11:

(US politics) A political conservative who espouses paleoconservatism, opposing mass immigration, embracing states' rights and supporting cultural conservatism and social structures perceived to be traditional.


paleoconservative

en-adj

paleoconservative (comparative more paleoconservative, superlative most paleoconservative)

more paleoconservative (comparative)
most paleoconservative (superlative)
palaeoconservative (alternative)

The first of Bannon's ten documentary film pamphlets, In the Face of Evil (2014), still followed a rather classic neoconservative narrative, albeit with a paleoconservative touch.

2019, Jonas Staal, Propaganda Art in the 21st Century, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 101:

In 2013, for instance, Pat Buchanan, a leading voice on the “paleoconservative” traditionalist right, described Putin as “one of us,” an ally in what he saw as the defining struggle of our era,[…]

2022 March 4, Thomas Zimmer, “America’s culture war is spilling into actual war-war”, in The Guardian:

(US politics) Holding views associated with paleoconservatism.

paleokonservativ

holding the views associated with paleoconservatism


paleocon

(informal, politics) A paleoconservative.


DND

D&D (alternative)
DnD (alternative)
D'N'D (alternative)

Department of National Defence
w:Department of National Defence

(military, Canada) Initialism of Department of National Defence.

w:Department of National Defense (Philippines)

(military, Philippines) Initialism of Department of National Defense.

DAR

executive departments of the Philippines


blue beret

blue berets (plural)
Blue Beret (alternative)

From the colour of the berets worn by UN peacekeepers.

The blue berets were the United Nations soldiers. When the fighting had at last been quelled, the government of Cyprus had asked the United Nations to send troops to keep the peace.

(military) A United Nations peacekeeper.


hooyah

(US, military) Official battle yell of the US Navy.


FICA

(government, taxation) Acronym of Federal Insurance Contributions Act.


contemnor

It is up to the Committee of Privileges to determine... the degree of culpability of the contemnor.

2023 June 15, Privileges Committee, “Matter Referred on 21 April 2022”, in Privileges Committee Report from the UK House of Commons, archived from the original on 2023-06-15:

contempt of Parliament
contempt of Parliament

(parliamentary procedure) A party who commits or is held in contempt of Parliament.


whipless

[…] spectacle of Conservative Euro-rebels delighting in their disgrace and flaunting their whipless condition, rather than being sad and ashamed of what has happened.

(politics, of an MP) Having been deprived of party membership as a disciplinary measure, or having relinquished membership, and often not voting to support party policy.


stone frigate

(UK, naval slang) A shore establishment of the Royal Navy and some Commonwealth navies.


nonrecoil

(firearms, physics) Without recoil; recoilless.


Tudor rose

(heraldry) A heraldic emblem of England, formed from the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York.


ROICC

[C]ontractors often find that informal efforts by the ROICC will obtain quicker and more satisfactory results than could be obtained through the formalized procedures mandated by the Defense Materials and Priorities Systems.

1979, United States Congress, Military Construction Appropriations for 1980, volume 3, page 738:

(military) Acronym of resident/regional officer in charge of construction.


10 Downing Street

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-10 Downing Street.wav

(UK politics) The address of the residence in London of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

[…] he declared from early in his life that he intended to be viceroy of India, as a natural stepping-stone on his way to 10 Downing Street.

2001, Trevor Owen Lloyd, Empire: the history of the British Empire, →ISBN, page 138:

(UK politics, by extension, metonymic) The title or office of the Prime Minister.


gun lobby

Congress must stand up to the gun lobby.

1981 September 25, James J. Kilpatrick, “Proposals On Handguns And Bail Would Help To Stem Violent Crime”, in St. Petersburg Independent, retrieved 2010-02-02, page 19A:

But efforts like Woods' are up against powerful headwinds — and not just because of the powerful gun lobby that often strangles gun-control laws.

2009 April 20, Michael A. Lindenberger, “Ten Years After Columbine, It's Easier to Bear Arms”, in Time:

(chiefly US, politics) An organized group which attempts to influence public policy and law with respect to firearms, especially as an advocate of ownership of and access to firearms by individual citizens.


port arms

I think we have to bear in mind that he'd been wrestled with, shot at, been in a wild chase, and now he's being confronted with a person carrying an automatic weapon at port arms.

1989, Peter C. Lagarias, Harrison J. Sheppard, Effective Closing Argument, page 356:

At last the battery cover snapped down. Howard strode briskly back through the living room with the hedge-clippers held at port arms.

(military) The position of a weapon carried diagonally in front of the body.

tatang senjata

a military position in which rifle is carried in diagonal position in front of a torso


port arms

en-verb

port arms (third-person singular simple present ports arms, present participle porting arms, simple past and past participle ported arms)

ports arms (present singular third-person)
porting arms (participle present)
ported arms (participle past)
ported arms (past)

(military, usually as imperative) To carry one's personal firearm diagonally in front of the body.


tenaille

From French tenaille (“a pair of pincers or tongs”), from Latin tenaculum. See tenaculum and tenaillon.

der

(military, historical) An outwork in the main ditch of a fortification, in front of the curtain, between two bastions.


behind the curve

(US, military) Not making the progress required.


RAS

(military, nautical) Initialism of replenishment at sea.

rail accessory system
rail accessory system#English

(firearms) Abbreviation of rail accessory system.

(law enforcement) Initialism of reasonable articulable suspicion.


action stations

(military, British, Canada) The positions or activity assumed by the crew of a warship immediately in advance of combat or other hostile action; general quarters; also, the signal given to indicate such imminent action.


dogface

Yass. I never got above the rank of shavetail. We were the dogfaces who gave ’em hell at Chateau Thierry.

1962, Joseph Commings, “The X Street Murders”, in The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes & Impossible Mysteries, published 2006:

(US military, slang) A foot soldier, especially during World War II.


deflex

(archery, of a bow) Having the arms curved or curled at the base so as to turn towards the archer when unstrung, reducing the strain on the limbs and also the energy stored by the weapon.


intercontinental ballistic missile

en-noun

intercontinental ballistic missile (plural intercontinental ballistic missiles)

intercontinental ballistic missiles (plural)
ICBM (alternative initialism)

From intercontinental + ballistic missile.

(military, astronautics) A class of long-range missiles associated especially with carrying nuclear warheads.

междуконтинентална балистична ракета

a class of long-range missiles associated especially with carrying nuclear warheads (ICBM)

大陸間弾道ミサイル

たいりくかんだんどうミサイル

межконтинента́льная баллисти́ческая раке́та


ARG

→ Japanese: エーアールジー, ARG (ARG)

amphibious ready group
amphibious ready group#English

(nautical, military) Initialism of amphibious ready group


ASM

ASM (countable and uncountable, plural ASMs)

air-to-surface missile
air-to-surface missile#English

(military) Initialism of air-to-surface missile.

anti-ship missile
anti-ship missile#English

(military, sometimes proscribed) Initialism of anti-ship missile.


FIN

force identification number
w:force identification number

(law enforcement, UK) Initialism of force identification number.


LSO

landing signal officer
w:landing signal officer

(aviation, nautical, military) Initialism of landing signal officer.


MDA

Missile Defense Agency
w:Missile Defense Agency

(military, US) Initialism of Missile Defense Agency.


SWE

(military) Initialism of supplied with equipment.


TUV

Traditional Unionist Voice
w:Traditional Unionist Voice

(Northern Ireland, politics) Initialism of Traditional Unionist Voice.


TEL

(astronautics, military) Initialism of transporter erector launcher.


BL

B.L. cartridges have lubricators choked inside the cartridges of 40-pr. and lower natures.

1879, War Office, Manual of Siege and Garrison Artillery Exercises, page 37:

(UK military) Initialism of breechloader.


BL

(UK military) Initialism of breechloading.


MPBR

(firearms) Initialism of maximum point blank range.


clean sweep

In November 1928, as the beneficiaries of this revulsion, the Liberals made a clean sweep of every seat on the borough council.

1989, Geoffrey Alderman, “Municipal Reaction and the Rise of Labour”, in London Jewry and London politics, 1889-1986, →ISBN, page 70:

By 1991 his constituency had made a clean sweep of all twelve local council seats, that's in part to Nellist’s high-profile efforts.

1992, Richard Heffernan, Mike Marqusee, “The Purge”, in Defeat from the jaws of victory: inside Kinnock's Labour Party, →ISBN, page 296:

George W. Bush made a clean sweep of the region once the dust had cleared from the Florida debacle more than a month after the election, adding 124 votes from elsewhere for a scrape-by total of 271 votes to claim the nation's highest office.

2002, Robert P. Steed, Laurence W. Moreland, “A Victory for Valence Issues”, in The 2000 presidential election in the South: partisanship and southern party systems in the 21st century, Volume 2000, →ISBN, page 37:

(chiefly politics) A complete or overwhelming victory, especially one in which all or almost all possible electoral contests are won.


AHO

(Australia, firearms) Initialism of approved hunting organisation, an organisation of which membership is one of several possible prerequisites for a firearms license.


Iron Cross

Germans marked booby-trapped areas with black-and-white signs, bearing an Iron Cross symbol or a death's-head.

2013, Gordon L. Rottman, World War II Allied Sabotage Devices and Booby Traps, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 56:

(military) (formerly) the second highest military decoration of Germany, under the military order of the Pour le Mérite, or the cross pattée shape of this decoration.

Star of the Grand Cross to the Iron Cross

Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross


Goldwater Republican

Goldwater Republican (plural Goldwater Republicans)

Dating from 1964 in the United States, the year Barry Goldwater tried unsuccessfully for the office of president.

For months he insisted that he did not want the nomination, would not seek it, and would only reluctantly accept a genuine draft. Despite Scranton's repeated statements, it was behind him that anti-Goldwater Republican leaders late last week tried to rally—and Scranton showed signs of acquiescence.

1964 July 12, “Republicans: The Man on the Bandwagon”, in Time:

"A lot of people who think of themselves as Goldwater Republicans do not know what it really means to be a Goldwater Republican," said Tom Paniccia, a former Air Force sergeant who was discharged from the military last year after he had proclaimed his homosexuality. "He has always had a near libertarian stance on keeping government out of people's lives."

1994 March 24, Timothy Egan, quoting Tom Paniccia, “Goldwater Defending Clinton; Conservatives Feeling Faint”, in The New York Times:

(US politics) A member of the Republican Party whose policies resemble those of Barry Goldwater, including support for the smallest government possible at the federal level, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, an internationalist, neoconservative, and anti-communist foreign policy, as well as social libertarianism.


Moral Majority

Coined by conservative activist Paul Weyrich in 1979 and later popularized by televangelist Jerry Falwell.

(US politics) A faction of the US Republican Party whose policies include conservatism on social and personal matters, infusing religion into the American political process.


government cheese

(US, politics, economics, by extension) Welfare in general.


fuck-you lizard

fuck-you lizard (plural fuck-you lizards)

fuck-you lizards (plural)
fuck you lizard (alternative)

Named during the Vietnam War, as the lizard's cry could be heard as fuck you. The fuck sound is quite clear and short in duration, followed by a pause of about half a second and the elongated you. The same sound could also be heard as tokay (as in tokay gecko), as tokeh (as in tokeh-tokeh), or as tuctoo, all of which are other English names of the lizard.

listen/core

The mating call of a tokay gecko (fuck-you gecko)

listen

“Relax, son,” he whispered, “it’s only a fuck-you lizard.”

1988, Russell E. McLogan, Boy Soldier: Coming of Age During World War II, Terrus Press, page 141

“Uccck-ouuu.” Small Deer said, imitating a Fuck-You Lizard to perfection.

2004, Mike Sutton, No Survivors, Author House, page 176:

At least it wasn’t a fuck-you lizard, I thought.

2009, Wayne Karlin, Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam, Nation Books, page 269:

(military slang, vulgar) The tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), native to Southeast Asia.


LCpl

(military, US) Abbreviation of lance corporal.


poison pill

They want to load the bills up with poison pills, measures the Republicans are inserting in the legislation to make sure I will veto it, so they can pretend it's not just the poison pill I'm against but the bill itself.

1996, William J. Clinton, “Remarks on the Legislative Agenda and an Exchange With Reporters”, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, volume 1, page 706:

(politics) A provision in a bill that leads to people who would have supported it opposing it instead.


leftard

(slang, derogatory, politics) A person of left-wing political views.

白左 (báizuǒ) (in Western countries, neologism, lit. "white left")


rightard

(slang, derogatory, politics) A person of right-wing political views.


annihilationism

If genocide and, hence, the Holocaust in particular, are to be better understood, then the roots of annihilationism—the origins of ultra-extreme intolerance—need to be explored.

2014, Linda S Katz, The Holocaust: Memories, Research, Reference, Routledge, →ISBN, page 94:

(politics) Advocacy of, or a policy of, annihilating a certain (racial, religious, etc) group; eliminationism.


fragger

The public read about the fraggers, the drug users and the unit that balked in combat. It heard little about the much more numerous draftees and short‐term enlistees who routinely spent their nights aggressively patrolling in the mud of the Delta and much of their days voluntarily helping villagers near their fire bases build roads and houses.

1973 April 18, L. James Binder, “An Army Come Home”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

They were not a band of rebellious “fraggers” assassinating their officers or marauding killers piling up body counts of the innocent in a haze of marijuana smoke.

2017 April 11, James Wright, “The Baby Boomer War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(US military slang) One who frags (deliberately kills a superior officer with a fragmentation grenade).


crosslet

From Middle English crosselet, from Anglo-Norman croiselette; alternatively, cross + -let.

Then Vna gan to aske, if ought he knew, / Or heard abroad of that her champion trew, / That in his armour bare a croslet red.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(chiefly heraldry) A small cross with crossed arms.


(singular only, informal, firearms) The .303 British rifle calibre.


Bandung

(metonymic, politics) The first Asian-African Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference


bladed stance

(martial arts) A stance in which one foot is in front of the other and the body is at an angle to a person in front (who may become aggressive)


firstie

WEST POINT, N.Y., May 22 — The graduating cadets of the United States Military Academy spent their final days here like scores of seniors, or firsties, before them: packing foot lockers and showing their mothers around gray buildings and sweeping lawns.

2007 May 25, Michael Wilson, “Iraq Presents Graduating Class at West Point With New Challenges”, in New York Times:

(US, military, informal) A first-class cadet.


landing ship

(military, nautical) a sea-going military light ferry designed to assault shores that are held against them, and disembark forces directly onto the shore


passthrough

en-noun

passthrough (countable and uncountable, plural passthroughs)

passthroughs (plural)
passthru (alternative)
pass-through (alternative)

Partnerships, limited-liability companies, and Subchapter S corporations are the main US passthroughs.

(taxation) A legal entity intended to not incur (income) taxation at the entity, but solely at the beneficiaries.


DNW

DNW rate

emergency department
emergency department#English

(healthcare) Initialism of did not wait: referring to people who present to an emergency department but leave prior to medical assessment.


NRO

National Reconnaissance Office
w:National Reconnaissance Office

(military, US) Initialism of National Reconnaissance Office.


delf

delfs (plural)
delves (plural)
delft (alternative)
delve (alternative)

From Middle English delf, delve, dælf (“a quarry, clay pit, hole; an artificial watercourse, a canal, a ditch, a trench; a grave; a pitfall”), from Old English delf, ġedelf (“delving, digging”) and dælf (“that which is dug, delf, ditch”), from Proto-West Germanic *delban (“to dig”), from Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”). More at delve.

two delves gules

(heraldry) A charge representing a square sod of turf, traditionally taking the form of a simple square (e.g. in the middle of an escutcheon), although modernly sometimes represented with the grass in profile.