trooper
(ˈtruːpə(r))
[f. troop n. + -er1.]
1. a. A soldier in a troop of cavalry; a horse soldier.
The term was used in connexion with the Covenanting Army which invaded England in 1640. It was used in the English Army in 1660. In the first establishment of Horse Regiments after the Restoration, the strength of a troop of horse was 1 Captain, 1 Lieutenant, and 60 Troopers.
| 1640 Bk. War Comm. Covenanters 1 That ilk trouper have for the twa pairt of the 40 dayes lone appoyntit be the Committie of Estaites xviij libs. 1694 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 296 [They] were all mounted on gray and white horses, and new clothed, and are more like troopers than dragoons. 1703 Marlborough Lett. & Disp. (1845) I. 164 The troopers might embark with the two regiments of foot. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 199 The escort..consisted of but two companies of native infantry and sixteen troopers. 1877 Field Exerc. Infantry 331 Two or more troopers should be with each support, to carry intelligence. |
b. In various colloq. and slang phrases, esp. to swear like a trooper.
| 1739–40 Richardson Pamela (1740) I. 239 She curses and storms at me like a Trooper. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v., You will die the death of a trooper's horse, that is with your shoes on, a jocular method of telling any one he will be hanged. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 122 The fellow..swore like a trooper. 1812 Lady Granville Lett. 12 Sept. (1894) I. 41 William Lamb laughs and eats like a trooper. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xli, Jack was heard below, swearing like a trooper. 1854 Badham Halieut. 443 A friend of his, ‘eques fortissimus’, i.e. one who lied like a trooper. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Predecess. iv. 160 Juventus..swears like a trooper. |
c. A brave or stalwart person. colloq.
| 1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse 230 Nina Hamnett (she was a fine trooper). |
2. A horse ridden by a trooper; a troop-horse; a cavalry horse.
| 1640 Sir J. Lessley in Antiq. Rep. (1809) IV. 436 The tag'd tail'd trooper that stands in the staw. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. iv. (1809) 84 Instead of his capering like a Trooper, he hangs down his head and tail. 1855 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce xx, How he gave it you..about riding that old trooper instead of your own charger! 1901 Field 9 Feb. 163/3 These expenses take too much off the price paid for a trooper. |
3. a. In Australia: A mounted policeman.
| 1830 Hist. Rec. Austral. (1922) 1st Ser. XV. 770 The Mounted Police, which at present consists of about 68 Troopers. 1858 McCombie Hist. Victoria viii. 100 A violent effort [was] made by the troopers on duty to disperse an assemblage which occupied the space of ground in front of the hustings. 1864 J. Rogers New Rush ii. 51 A trooper spies him snoring in the street. |
b. More fully state trooper. A mobile state policeman. U.S.
| 1911 Ann. Rep. 1910 (Pennsylvania Dept. State Police) 16 On arrival of the detail, the mob of foreigners proceeded to stone and shoot at Troopers... Three of the Troopers..fired at their assailants, wounding two Italians. 1941 [see state n. 38 e]. 1977 New Yorker 3 Oct. 43/1, I slowed the car and pulled over..and a state trooper pulled up behind us... The trooper said, Do you need any help. |
c. A paratrooper. orig. U.S.
| 1942 Yank 14 Oct. 2 English neighbors tasted this clannishness soon after the troopers settled in their midst. 1974 C. Ryan Bridge Too Far iii. iii. 156 Of the sixteen paratroopers, pilot and co-pilot, only Johnson and two other troopers got out. |
4. A troop-ship.
| 1872 ‘Aliph Cheem (Yeldham) Lays of Ind (1876) 204 The gallant trooper ‘Crocodile’ is getting under weigh. 1880 World 13 Oct., Of those in the Euphrates, one of the Imperial troopers, four were down simultaneously with sunstroke. 1896 N. Newnham-Davis Three Men & a God 79 The last hired trooper of the season was going home in the early spring, taking in her a draft of the regiment. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 16 May 11, I saw the empty trooper, scrubbed and waiting. 1981 J. Barnett Firing Squad ii. 114 First objective, a decent cabin on the trooper. |
† 5. Cant. A half-crown. Obs.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Trooper, a half Crown. |
Hence troopeˈress (rare), a female trooper.
| 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey ii. iv. 152 When she was..lying to them like a trooperess. 1927 Daily Express 2 Sept. 3 The stories related of the coarse, swearing ‘trooperess’ are astounding. |