shooter
(ˈʃuːtə(r))
Forms: α. 3 ssetare, 4 ssyetere, schetor, scheotere, sheeter, shetere, 5 schetare, scheter(e, sheter; β. 4 schot(t)er, 4–6 shoter, 5–6 schuter, Sc. schutar, 6 shewter, Sc. schuiter, schutur, 7 shootter, 6– shooter.
[f. shoot v. + -er1.]
I. One who shoots.
1. a. One who shoots with a bow or with firearms; in early use, an archer; now chiefly applied to a sportsman who shoots game.
| α 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7482 Þe ssetare [v.rr. ssetares, schetors, scheoteres, scheters, scheteres] donward al uor noȝt vaste slowe to gronde. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xi. 24 And the sheeters dresseden dartis to thi servauntis fro the wal above. c 1400 Promp. Parv. 445/2 Schetare, or archare, sagittarius. 1450 Gesta Rom. i. 3 Whenne he sawe the sheter drawe his bowe. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 3607 Þou ert schotter wit þe beist, Bath in feild and in forest. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. vi. (1495) 111 Shoters close the one eye for to shote the more euyn. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 506 The whiche was..the best shoter and drawer of a bowe. 1499 Exch. Rolls Scot. XI. 394 Gif thare be..within..forestis..schutaris. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus i. iii. G j b, As the archer or shoter in a crossebow directeth his eie towardes his marke. 1598–99 Aberd. Acc. in Spalding Club Miscell. V. 71 Appoyntit for calling and accusing of schuturis with gwnnis. 1611 Bible 1 Sam. xxxi. 3 The archers [marg. shooters, men with bows] hit him. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 101 He sends a shooter or footman to him. 1676 Shotterel & Durfey Archerie reviv'd 10 Mark what Grace Sits in each line of every Shooters Face. 1778 Johnson in Boswell 9 Apr., Where there are many shooters, some will hit. 1821 Examiner 105/1 A vigorous shooter of woodcocks. 1842 Lacy Mod. Shooter 113 Some shooters nearly always, others but seldom, kill their game in style. 1865 ‘Cuthbert Bede’ Rook's Garden, etc. 232 The heads of the slaughtered sparrows would have to be produced..to the secretary, who would note their number, and record it against the name of the shooter. 1908 B. Mallet Life Earl Northbrook 276 Joining the shooters at lunch. |
† b. transf. (appositively). Obs.
| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 180 The saylynge fyr, the cipresse deth to pleyne, The shetere [v.rr. sheter, shoter, scheter] Ew, the Asp for shaftys pleyne. |
† c. (With capital initial.) The constellation Sagittarius. Obs.
| 1386 Almanack 1 The Schoter es þe principal howce of Saturne. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. C ij b, Then From Scorpio, Saturne to the Shooter's straide. |
† d. The guard of a coach. Obs.
The ‘guard’, as the name implies, was originally armed for the protection of the passengers: see guard n. 7 b.
| 1840 Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story i, A nod for the ‘shooter’ or guard, and a bow for the dragsman. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 342/1 (Driving), Shooter, a name given to coach guards in the olden time. |
2. a. The man who ‘shoots’ a seine-net.
| 1855 Leifchild Cornwall 13 The men who cast this net are termed the ‘shooters’. |
b. Sport. One who kicks or drives a ball at goal; also in extended use in Basketball, Netball, etc.
| 1901 A. Farrell Ice Hockey & Ice Polo Guide 54 The goaler..may skate out to meet him, being careful that he is directly in line between shooter and goal. 1922 W. E. Meanwell Basket Ball for Men vii. 68 Line throwing is the chief fault with most shooters. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 181/1 Previously, a star shooter could attempt all free throws for his team. 1963 C. Glyn Don't knock Corners Off xxi. 178, I stood and shivered as Miss Pratt picked people for the netball teams... ‘You can be Shooter.’ 1978 T. L. Smith Money War (1979) iii. 218 The only gambit he could think of was darts. He was the fifth best shooter in the very active St. Louis league. |
c. One who throws a die or marble. Cf. also crap-shooter s.v. crap n.4 2.
| 1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger i. i. 9 The bearded shooter, pleased by this tribute..twisted his white apron. 1926 [see little Joe s.v. little a. 13]. 1969 R. C. Bell Board & Table Games II. v. 84 When any pair is thrown and the third die is 2, 3, 4, or 5, the number of the third die becomes the shooter's point. |
II. Something that shoots or is used for shooting.
† 3. A bolt. Obs. rare—1.
| 1632 Sherwood, The shooter of a locke, verrouil. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 1123 The shooter of a lock; obex seræ versatilis. |
† 4. A shooting star. Obs.
| 1633 Herbert Temple, Artillerie iii, I have also starres and shooters too. |
5. With qualifying adj.: A plant that shoots (vigorously, etc.).
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Espalier, For vigorous Shooters, twenty Feet are little enough. c 1791 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 32/2 Robust but moderate shooters. 1981 Country Life 18 June 1772/1 Sappy shooters, from which to take cuttings now. |
6. ‘A board placed between cheeses under a press’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.). Also, in a cider press, a board laid flat on the top of the pile of must.
| 1586 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 29 Fiyffe cheffates [read chesfats = cheese-vats]..and one shewter vjs viij{supd}. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1316 [Cider-press], A square board, termed a shooter. |
7. A contrivance for shooting or discharging the contents of sacks.
| 1880 J. W. Hill Guide Agric. Implements 469 An efficient Sack Lifter, Loader, Unloader, and Shooter. |
8. a. With qualifying word: A gun, pistol, etc. that shoots (well or ill). Cf. six-shooter. b. colloq. or slang. A shooting instrument, a gun or pistol, esp. a revolver.
| 1812 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 64 The barrel was a bad and weak shooter. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast iv, We got our shooters in order. 1877 Black Green Past. xiii, Then Jack drew his shooter out and shot Billy Bill through the head. 1931 E. O'Neill Hunted iv, in Mourning becomes Electra 156 Easy goes, shipmate! Stow that pistol!.. Not that I'm skeered o' you or your shooter! 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, you Bastard v. 138 Why did you pull the shooter on the two detectives? 1972 L. Henderson Cage until Tame ix. 77 We'll need a shooter, one barrel into the ceiling straight off. |
9. Cricket. (See quot. 1897.)
| 1843 ‘Wykhamist’ Pract. Hints Cricket 7 Another advantage of this mode of holding the Bat close to the ground, is the greater facility the player has in stopping ‘shooters’. 1856 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, The Captain stumped the next man off a leg-shooter. 1884 Q. Rev. Oct. 469 Lumpy's favourite achievement was to bowl ‘shooters’. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 246/2 (Cricket) Shooter, a ball which on touching the ground keeps very close to the turf, often with an increase of pace. |
10. Public School slang. A black morning coat. ? Obs.
| 1870 Harrovian 9 Apr. 134/2 Although the use of slang words and phrases has now become almost universal among the greater portion of the community, we generally find that each University or School possesses a dialect peculiar to itself... Shooter, a shooting coat. 1920 Galsworthy In Chancery ii. vii. 181 ‘I suppose I'd better change into a ‘shooter',’ he muttered, escaping to his room. He put on the ‘shooter’, a high collar, a pearl pin, and his neatest grey spats. |
11. U.S. slang. A measure or drink of spirit, esp. whisky.
| 1971 Car & Driver Jan. 75/1 He made his famous call for ‘shooters’. Now in case you haven't heard, a ‘shooter’ is a Turner variation of the word ‘shot’, as in a ‘shot of likker’, and..refers to a shot of Canadian Club mixed into a few fingers of ‘Co-cola’. 1973 W. McCarthy Detail i. 61 Let's have a shooter and a beer. 1981 W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 2 May 16/4 The word coming up fast for a straight shot is a shooter. ‘A shooter is a shot of liquor swallowed in one quick gulp,’ says Jeff Dee. |
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Senses 10, 11 in Dict. become 11, 12. Add: 10. A marble which is used for ‘shooting’ (see shoot v. 26 a); a taw. orig. and chiefly U.S.
| 1892 S. Culin in Proc. Numism. & Antiq. Soc. Philadelphia 1890–1 123 The boys regard certain shooters as lucky, and value them highly in consequence. 1927 88 Successful Play Activities (Playground & Recreation Assoc. Amer.) 26 Players shall provide their own shooters, which may be of any material except metal. 1971 Readers' Digest Bk. 1000 Family Games vi. 164 The boy or girl whose shooter comes to rest closest to the lag line will take the first shot, the player whose shooter is the next closest is the second to play, and so on. 1983 U. Curtiss Death of Crow xii. 130 Big clear shooter in the centre cup, five marbles each in the surrounding ones..a vivid mixture. |
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▸ A computer game involving simulated shooting at targets or adversaries; (in later use) spec. = shoot-'em-up n. Cf. also first person n. 2.
| 1981 U.S. Patent 4,266,766 A multitarget shooter game apparatus comprising a light beam gun and a plurality of separate targets in the form of light sensitive cells. 1988 MacUser (Nexis) Apr. 198 It's a real arcade shooter, enhanced by much better sounds and smoother action than that of its predecessors on other computers. 1991 Toronto Star 17 Aug. h4/3 Laser Invasion is fairly routine as a shooter. 2000 S. Poole Trigger Happy ii. 38 As processing power increased in the 1990s, the genre definitively broke the bounds of flat-plane representations with the emergence of the ‘first-person shooter’, exemplified by Doom and its multifarious clones. |