fighter
(ˈfaɪtə(r))
[? OE. feohtere (Lye) = OHG. fehtâri (MHG. vehtære, mod.Ger. fechter): see fight v. and -er1.]
1. a. One who fights; occas. a fighting man, a warrior.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 5703 Alle his gode fightteres. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 102 He had of fechtaris with hym thar Ane hundreth thousand men and ma. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 66/1 This geaunt hath ben a fightar fro his chyldehod. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Matt. x. 16 Sheep and Doves are no good fighters against Wolves and Hawks. 1763 Churchill Ghost i. 173 Whether repletion is not bad, And fighters with full stomachs mad. 1823 Byron Juan xiv. xx, I've seen them [writers] balance even the scale with fighters. 1883 Stevenson Treasure Isl. i. ii. (1886) 11 He did not look much like a fighter. |
| fig. a 1300 Cursor M. 18081 (Cott.) A faint fighter me thinc er þou. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (Gibbs MS.) 64 My lord ihesu criste whyche is þe hope and croune of alle his fyghters. 1656 S. Winter Serm. 181 Lest you seem to..be found fighters against the Lord of hosts. 1861 Trench Epistles 7 Churches 86 These daring fighters against God. |
† b. One employed to fight; a champion, bully.
| 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. iv. i, Y'are grown a glorious Whore, where be your Fighters? c 1683 Roxb. Ball. V. 215 Keep Frank still for your writer, And Poulteney for your fighter. |
† 2. A pugnacious person; a brawler.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1751 The fortune of feghters may be fell chaunse. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxxv. (1483) 83 Robbours..fyghters and debatours. 1552 Act 5–6 Edw. VI, c. 4 §3 Fray-makers and Fighters. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) 1 Tim. iii. 3 No fighter, nor couetous. |
3. Aeronaut. A high-speed military aircraft designed for aerial combat.
| 1917 [see bomber 2]. 1936 Economist 8 Feb. 294/2 There will still be..two squadrons of bombing machines..to one squadron of fighters. 1960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane i. xvi. 139 (caption) The turbojet Gloster Javelin fighter. 1971 H. F. King World's Fighters xi. 116 Several different armament combinations are possible on the Lightning fighter. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
fighter aerodrome,
fighter cover,
fighter duty,
fighter escort,
fighter machine,
fighter patrol,
fighter pilot,
fighter plane,
fighter screen,
fighter squadron,
fighter strip,
fighter umbrella. Also
fighter-bomber, an aircraft that combines the functions of a fighter and a bomber;
Fighter Command, the headquarters controlling the operation of a fleet of fighters.
| 1941 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 19 Mar.–13 May 43 He sent large forces to deal with fighter aerodromes in the south and south-east of England. |
| 1936 Air Stories Dec. 544/1 The R.A.F.'s latest fighter-bomber is as fast as any fighter yet in service anywhere in the world. 1959 Observer 14 June 16/2 American fighter-bombers equipped with nuclear weapons. |
| 1941 Aeronautics Dec. 39/1 ‘Fighter Command’ did not pass into Everyman's vocabulary until well after the beginning of the war. 1942 Jane's All World's Aircraft 1941 13a/1 Fighter Command's contribution to the bombing offensive opened on November 1, 1941, when the new Hawker ‘Hurricane II’ fighter-bomber..went into action. |
| 1941 D. Garnett War in Air 107 The number of Fighters with the Air Component of the B.E.F. was increased..and Fighter cover was given on the Western flank. |
| 1934 Times 28 July 9/5 It is a tribute to the success of the Territorial experiment..that these squadrons should have been chosen for fighter duty. 1939 War Weekly 24 Nov. 139/4 In the hours of darkness fighter-planes will rarely, if ever, attack bombers, and, therefore, raids carried out entirely in darkness have no need of fighter escort. |
| 1919 N. Flower Hist. Great War XIII. 121/2 The German aviation service was in extreme need of fighter machines..and aerial machine-gunners. |
| 1917 Flying 3 Oct. 161/2 A fighter patrol met a large formation of Albatross scouts. 1936 Air Stories Dec. 573/2 The likelihood of securing a hit is in the proportion of 9 to 1 in favour of the fighter pilot. 1939 Flight 19 Oct. 309 Fighter pilots in crews' quarters on an aerodrome. 1971 Sunday Times 1 Aug. 3/6 The fighter pilot..parachuted to safety. |
| 1935 Economist 17 Aug. 320/1 Unless the raiding enemy can be located he is immune..from the defending fighter planes. 1941 Battle of Britain, Aug.–Oct. 1940 13 The covering fighter screen flew at very great heights. |
| 1932 19th Cent. Feb. 202 The enemy forces which are locked up by attack are fighter squadrons. 1944 Birmingham (Ala.) News 25 Apr. 1/1 Australian Royal Air Force engineers worked at night under floodlights..to repair the bomber and fighter strips. |
| 1942 Flight 27 Aug. 218/2 Everything..depended on the British fighter umbrella. |