saboteur
(ˈsæbətɜː(r), ‖ sabɔtœr)
Also fem. saboteuse.
[Fr.]
One who commits sabotage.
| 1921 tr. W. Rathenau's New Society 125 The saboteurs of labour. 1931 Observer 11 Jan. 20/2 Two managers of a dairy were dubbed saboteurs and sentenced to..imprisonment for letting two hundred tons of butter spoil. 1947 J. Mulgan Report on Experience xii. 148 The men who were killed had been saboteurs, or gleaners of information for the Allies, patriots in their own quiet and dangerous way. 1973 E. Pace Any War will Do iii. 199 They're too chicken to send in their paratroopers, and they're not smart enough to send in saboteurs. 1977 Saboteuse [see pig n.1 6 b]. 1977 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 22 July 1/3, 12 members of the 9th Libyan Armoured Division were taken prisoner along with 30 saboteurs. 1980 Daily Tel. 20 Mar. 1/5 Two fox-hunt saboteurs who had appeared as prosecution witnesses against hunt followers. |