| 释义 |
spotter|ˈspɒtə(r)|
[f. spot v. or n.1]
1. a. One who makes spots.
1611Cotgr., Barbouilleur, ..a blotter, spotter, smutter, besmearer of. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i, Brodeuse de Gaze, a Spotter of Hoods, a Woman that spots Hoods. 1755Johnson, Spotter, one that spots; one that maculates. 1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 70 [Persons employed in] Lace Finishing:.. Spotter, Stamper [etc.].
b. A device for making spots on watch-plates.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 245 This upright spindle carrying the spotter is kept constantly rotating by a band from a foot wheel.
2. a. U.S. A spy or detective, esp. one employed by a company to keep watch on employees, or one who watches for infringements of prohibition-laws.
1876Scribner's Monthly Apr. 911/2 The stockholders and directors, the ‘car-starters’ and ‘spotters’. 1878O. W. Holmes Motley 139 He was a paid ‘spotter’, sent by some jealous official to report on the foreign ministers. 1883American VI. 333 A conductor..had a private detective arrested for following him about, and the ‘spotter’ was fined ten dollars by a magistrate.
b. In target practice, one who notes the point where a shot strikes; a marker.
1893Daily News 21 July 5/6 Surridge got a bull ‘just in at ten o'clock’, to use the spotter's descriptive slang.
c. A look-out, an observer; a scout; one who identifies or looks out a target; spec. (Mil.), an aviator who locates enemy positions and directs fire.
1903A. M. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise v. 127 So vigilant and observant was that solitary optic that its owner was the chosen ‘spotter’ of a most relentless band of racecourse pickpockets. 1914Illustr. London News 29 Aug. 320/3 Electric contrivances for communicating messages between the ‘spotter’ aloft and the gun-layer below. 1918E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 108 The fire was being directed from the ground from what the battery commander called the O.P., or observation post. He sent me up to that post with one of the spotters. 1925J. C. Goodwin Queer Fish xvi. 153, I surmise that they are ‘spotters’, posted where they are to warn the proprietor of the card-room should the police or their informers put in an appearance. 1935A. J. Cronin Stars look Down i. ix. 70, I heard the Tynecassel spotter was coming down to watch ye at the next Sleescale match. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 112/1 Spotter, an accomplice who sizes up the victim and surroundings for the purpose of robbery, murder, kidnaping or a beating. 1939Illustrated 16 Dec. 28 The ‘spotter’ sweeps the sky with his powerful telescope in search of aircraft. 1940Sun (Baltimore) 13 Aug. 1/7 The Germans..have mounted long⁓range guns between Calais and Boulogne..but they will be simply shooting into the blue unless they have effective spotters aloft. 1940Times 13 Nov. 3/1 Spotters with machine-guns man the roofs. 1943Times 9 Oct. 2/5 The spotters ‘tell’ every outgoing or incoming aircraft by direct telephone line to the nearest R.O.C. centre. 1949Times 5 Jan. 4/5 Aircraft from Kuala Lumpur carried spotters for the naval gunners. 1955Times 21 June 9/4 One spotter aircraft to each forest operating company is the minimum requirement for efficiency. Such spotters can ask for..‘bulldozer’ rights for a patrol on a hot scent to pass through the areas of other units without being shot in error. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xvii. 373 The sentinel may..be called a guard, spotter, scout, [etc.]. 1963T. & P. Morris Pentonville 353 Crime or crimes are to a great extent planned in gaol..then the necessary men (i.e. safe blower, drivers, spotters, con men, fence,) are found in here and given the word. 1976Globe & Mail (Toronto) 11 June 9/8 Once Mr. Drmbie or his spotter sight a fire, they circle, swoop in at treetop level and note the size of the blaze. 1976Eastern Even. News (Norwich) 13 Dec. 4/3 Chic is heavily involved in all forms of entertainment and is the local ‘spotter’ for television's ‘New Faces’. 1977‘O. Jacks’ Autumn Heroes vii. 96 ‘Spotter plane, boss.’..‘I don't like the idea of a spotter.’ 1980J. O'Faolain No Country for Young Men i. 23 The Tans came in shooting... At the barracks, ‘spotters’ with bags over their heads and slits for their eyes identified known activists.
d. One who spots (spot v. 9 e) trains, etc. See also train-spotter.
1950Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IX. 400/1 The main activity of spotters' clubs is the collecting of locomotive numbers. 1957Railway Mag. Dec. 887/2 (heading) Necktie for spotters. 1958Times 6 Dec. 7/4 As a young ‘spotter’ [of car registration numbers in Egypt] I quickly noticed that the Arabic face was always legible at a considerably greater distance than the Western face. 1973Times 27 July (Leisure Suppl.) p. iv/4 Steam railway enthusiasts seem to grow in number each year as spotters young and old rue the passing of steam.
3. attrib., as (sense 2 c) spotter aircraft, spotter pilot, spotter plane.
1942Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 1/8 Three enemy fighters..and a ‘spotter’ aircraft were shot down. 1959Times 18 May 6/1 From Marks Tey, Essex, on the main Colchester road, spotter aircraft yesterday radioed a report of a 20-mile queue of close-packed traffic. 1976Globe & Mail (Toronto) 11 June 9/8 A second source of fire information—three Cessna spotter aircraft flying 3,000 feet overhead signalling radio reports into the fire control room.
1967Listener 21 Sept. 355/3 The radio in the company hq chatters with constant news from the ground control and the spotter pilots.
1958Observer 3 Aug. 1/4 Floating 1,000 ft. over Southern England in the Automobile Association's spotter plane..I watched the holiday traffic streaming out of London yesterday. 1977Time 22 Aug. 10/1 Israeli batteries—sometimes directed by observers in spotter planes—fired 16 times at Palestinian forces. 1981E. Clark Send in Lions v. 53 Spotter planes searched the vastness of the Sahara.
Sense 2 d in Dict. becomes 2 e. Add: [2.] d. In gymnastics, trampolining, etc.: a person stationed to prevent possible accident or otherwise to provide safety assistance to the performer.
1937Jrnl. Health & Physical Educ. Mar. 151/2 For a straddle vault over the long horse the left hand of the spotter holds the arm of the performer while the right hand pushes hard on the buttocks. 1964Simple Gymnastics (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 3) 40/2 The spotter stations himself near the performer so that if anything untoward happens he can quickly move in to prevent a nasty fall. 1974Rules of Game ii. 41 Spotters are compulsory at each side and end of the trampoline to ensure the safety of competitors. They are forbidden to speak to competitors. 1987Bodybuilding Oct. 73/1 Always have an adult spotter around to retrieve the weights. |