hostile, a. (n.)
(ˈhɒstaɪl, -tɪl)
Also 7 hostill.
[ad. L. hostīlis, f. hostis enemy (see -ile): perh. through F. hostile (15–16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
A. adj.
1. a. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an enemy; pertaining to or engaged in actual hostilities.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 236 (Qos.) My dangerous attempt of hostile armes. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 9 Nor bruise her Flowrets with the Armed hoofes Of hostile paces. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 246 The King of Denmark, who entred Germany in an hostile manner. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 337 By these Bars..the Hostile Arms of the Turks have been put to a stop. 1725 Pope Odyss. xi. 656 Thus, great in glory, from the din of war, Safe he return'd without one hostile scar. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 114 The operations of hostile armies. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon Wks. (Bohn) I. 371 On a hostile position [he] rained a torrent of iron. |
b. Of the nature or disposition of an enemy; unfriendly.
| 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. Pref. 4 They all came in from a foreign and hostile quarter. 1821 J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Lady J. B. li, The dame held fast the hostile door. 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. II. 88 A second hostile rajah..was for some time kept as a state-prisoner. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiv. 392 Men of different and hostile races. |
2. transf. and fig. a. Unfriendly in feeling, action, nature, or character; contrary, adverse, antagonistic.
| 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1748 The natives of North Britain, to whom he is supposed to have been so hostile. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 114 The principal of putrefaction, or azote, the element hostile to life. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 231 A long succession of princes, hostile to the established faith, might sit on the English throne. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. v. 413 It is possible for two hostile principles to flourish side by side, without ever coming into collision. |
b. to go hostile: to become angry. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
| 1941 W. D. Haydon N.Z. Soldiers 17 Wouldn't he go hostile if he knew who pinched his bacon. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. ii. xv. 23 To go hostile means to become angry. |
3. Comb. hostile ice (see quot. 1966); hostile ord Naval slang, an ordinary seaman who joins the Navy in wartime for the period of hostilities only.
| 1964 Polar Record XII. 197 *Hostile ice. 1966 T. Armstrong et al. Gloss. Snow & Ice 19 Hostile ice, from the point of view of the submariner, an ice canopy containing no large ice skylights or other features which permit a submarine to surface. |
| 1919 W. Lang Sea-Lawyer's Log iii. 37 To the active service man the ‘*hostile ord’, as the temporary seaman is called, is a mere interloper, one who has joined the Navy to ‘dodge Kitchener’, as they put it, and they do not hesitate to tell him so. |
B. n. A hostile person; spec. (U.S.) a North American Indian unfriendly to the Whites.
| 1838 N.Y. Mirror 27 Jan. 245/3 Yesterday five Delaware chiefs, who had gone from the main army to the stronghold of the hostiles, reappeared with four Indians. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Hostiles, enemies. Western. 1880 Libr. Univ. Knowl. X. 431 They were formerly hostiles, but..at present peaceable and industrious. 1885 Milnor (Dakota) Teller 24 Apr. 5/3 Saturday a scouting-party..captured three hostiles. 1890 Pall Mall G. 18 Dec. 5/2 A courier has just arrived, and reports..that the hostiles are fighting with the friendly Indians on the Grand River. 1963 Guardian 8 Sept. 6/6 There were rumours that Naga hostiles were getting help from China. 1966 A. Firth Tall, Balding, Thirty-Five iv. 48 It is most unlikely that a hostile could select such a person as yourself to assist them. 1969 Hindu 3 Aug. 1/5 A strong contingent of security forces has been rushed to..Ukhrul..to intercept over 400 China-trained Naga hostiles. |
Hence † hostile v. Obs., in to hostile it, to be hostile, engage in warlike hostilities.
| 1656 S. H. Gold. Law 8 Why may not Clients clearly injured by their Lawyer, or their Adversary, hostile it, and gather an Army? Ibid. 96 Had you just cause to invade and hostile it against us. |
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Add: [A.] [2.] c. Comm. Of a takeover (bid), etc.: liable to be opposed by the management of the target company, unwelcome.
| 1972 Financial Executive Apr. 20/1 Hostile tenders and exchange offers are no longer as simple as they once were. 1974 Wall St. Jrnl. 21 Oct. 1/6 Top executives..are drafting contingency plans..in anticipation of hostile take-over attempts. 1987 Sunday Times 29 Nov. 70/3 He rolled out a hostile cash-and-convertible package worth {pstlg}224m for Electronic Rentals three weeks ago. 1990 Business Apr. 81/2 Adia..launched a hostile bid for Hestair... When Hestair found a white knight, BET, Adia refused to enter a bidding war. |