▪ I. raider
(ˈreɪdə(r))
[f. raid v. + -er1.]
a. One who raids; a plundering invader, a marauder. Also transf.
| 1863 Boston Commonwealth (U.S.) 30 Oct., Governor Bramlette of Kentucky..telegraphs that the rebel raiders are within forty miles of his capital. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 481 Hearkening the raiders call The cattle o'er the meads. 1878 Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 142 There are three kinds of poachers, the local men, the raiders coming in gangs from a distance—and the mouchers. 1894 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. XLVII. 776/2 It's perfectly plain that the thief took advantage of the reception..to raid the vacant houses... It's the same old raider. 1976 Daily Record (Glasgow) 4 Dec. 26/1 Seldom do we find Irish raiders at the Market Rasen track, but trainer Moore has sent two over in a bid for a winning double. 1979 Austral. Financial Rev. 7 Aug. 1/1 (caption) Raider [sc. a stock-exchange speculator] hits Ansett. |
b. An aircraft on a bombing operation. Hence phr. raiders passed (or raiders past), the ‘all clear’ signal given by sirens, etc., after an air-raid.
| 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air viii. 248 He is now in the act of bombarding the chief manufacturing city..by means of three raider airships. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings ii. iii. 258 Certainly they do not include speculation about the men who man the raiders. 1940 New Statesman 19 Oct. 372/1 The ‘Raiders Passed’ went and the tens of thousands of East Londoners poured out of the shelters. 1941 Ann. Reg. 1940 69 The damage inflicted by the raiders was little less serious. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 27 When the ‘raiders past’ had sounded..we emerged, coughing, from our subterranean dens. 1943 G. Greene Ministry of Fear i. i. 22 Three flares came sailing..down... Yet another raider came up from the south-east. 1966 A. Powell Soldier's Art ii. 158 ‘That one didn't take long.’.. ‘Another tip-and-run raider,’ said Pilgrim. |
▪ II. raider
dial. var. rather.