| 释义 |
sharpshooter|ˈʃɑːpʃuːtə(r)|
[f. sharp a. + shooter. (So G. scharfschütz(e, scharfer schütze.)]
1. a. A marksman of accurate aim; spec. in naval and military use, a member of a division engaged in skirmishing and outpost work.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., Tirolians, a body of sharp shooters in the Austrian service. 1803Scott Let. 27 Aug. in Lockhart (1837) I. xi. 389 Armies of Reserve, and Militia, and Pikemen, and Sharpshooters, who are to descend from Ettrick Forest to the confusion of all invaders. 1805in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 224 Lord Nelson was wounded by a French Sharpshooter. 1809Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1835) IV. 331 On the 11th the enemy tried their usual manœuvres with their sharpshooters in the woods. 1897Century Mag. Jan. 352 [He] had been struck by a sharp-shooter and killed.
b. fig.
1824Dibdin Libr. Comp. 695 Hundreds of black-letter sharp-shooters spring up. 1885J. Martineau Types Eth. Th. I. p. x, A fusillade of questions from a class of sharp⁓shooters. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 26 May 1/3 They were set apart as a shining target upon which all political sharpshooters practiced. 1960Twentieth Cent. May 447 Sociology is not at present and is not likely to become in the near future a subject for intellectual sharpshooters.
c. U.S. Mil. A rifleman of a particular grade; spec. one who has attained the level of proficiency between that of marksman and expert.
1889N.Y. Times 15 Sept. 13/2 Until within a comparatively recent period all officers and members of organizations armed with the Remington rifle scoring 25 points or better at 200 and 500 yards, 6 shots at each distance..were accounted ‘marksmen’... Later on a distinction was made in respect of men making 42 points or better, by classing them as ‘sharpshooters’. 1918E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms 551 Sharpshooter,..in small⁓arms firing, a grade of rifleman just below that of expert rifleman. 1974M. Allen Super Tour i. 6 The entrance was guarded..by the chief gatekeeper or one of his three sons, all armed with rifles and all rating as sharpshooters when they had done their military service. 1977Time 22 Aug. 34/3 He flunked his first rifle-shooting test but eventually qualified as an infantry sharpshooter (the middle ranking between marksman and expert) with the M-16 rifle.
2. Transferred senses.
†a. Cricket. = shooter 9. Obs.
1863Boy's Own Vol. Christmas 218 Among the best men with sharpshooters were Wenman, among the old players, Carpenter and Daft, and last, not least, Mr. E. Grace.
b. Sport. A player whose aim is particularly accurate. U.S.
1912N.Y. Tribune 21 Sept. 12/1 Devore..was the principal sharpshooter of the second encounter, as he answered for all four runs. 1974State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 27 Feb. 3-b/1 Virginia Military..builds its offense around freshman sharpshooter John Krovic.
c. U.S. colloq. = sharp n.1 8 b.
1942Sun (Baltimore) 7 Mar. 10/5 The sharpshooters have been saying that Market Wise should romp in. 1944Ibid. 21 Sept. 17/5 The real romance of the race track..is the betting crowd. First you get the experts or the sharp⁓shooters.
3. One of several leafhoppers of the family Cicadellidæ, feeding on grasses, grape-vines, and other plants.
1902Yearbk. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1901 377 Early cotton..avoids to a great extent damage to the plant by the boll⁓worm, cotton worm, and sharp-shooter. 1959Washington Post 23 July a20/2 Priesendorfer identified them as leafhoppers, commonly called sharpshooters.
Hence ˈsharpshooting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1806A. Duncan Nelson 311 The system of sharp-shooting practised by the enemy. 1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story vi, Mrs. S. attacked the punch with some sharp-shooting, and fierce charges of vulgarity. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xliv, After some little sharp-shooting on both sides, Mr. Pecksniff became grave. 1863in Advance (Chicago) (1892) 28 Jan., On Tuesday he..kept his men busy sharp⁓shooting across the river. 1865Kingsley Herew. xxxii, I am too old a campaigner to take much harm by woman's sharpshooting, at fifteen score yards off. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 215/1 He was out sharp-shooting in the Crimea. 1899Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 3/2 Artillery would be put out of action by sharp-shooting riflemen. 1948Sporting Mirror 19 Nov. 5/1 First Division clubs are queuing up to bid for Vic Lambden, Bristol Rovers' sharpshooting centre forward. 1976Norwich Mercury 10 Dec., It was the same Carrow player who had scored the first goal, and he was certainly giving Old Boys a lesson in sharpshooting. 1978M. Puzo Fools Die xvi. 172 The client was a sharpshooting Wasp Wall Street broker named Buddy Stove. |