fightern.
/ˈfʌɪtə/, U.S. /ˈfaɪdər/ 1. figurative.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18081 A faint fighter me thinc er þou.c1430 Life St. Katherine (Gibbs) 64 My lord ihesu criste whyche is þe hope and croune of alle his fyghters.1656 S. Winter Serm. 181 Lest you seem to..be found fighters against the Lord of hosts.1861 R. C. Trench Comm. Epist. 7 Churches Asia 86 These daring fighters against God.† b. One employed to fight; a champion, bully.
a. One who fights; occasionally a fighting man, a warrior.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > [noun]
wyec900
rinkeOE
earlOE
manlOE
champion?c1225
warrer?c1225
drightmanc1275
here-dringc1275
here-gumec1275
here-kempec1275
wal-kempc1275
warrior1297
battlerc1300
fighterc1300
battle-wrighta1400
man-of-war1449
frekec1475
war-manc1485
combatant1489
Mars1565
warfarer1591
combater1598
Mavortian1598
brave1601
fire-eater1792
war-wolf1810
war-hound1812
war-dog1846
toa1860
Mavors1868
fightist1877
ninja1964
simba1964
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > one who
fighterc1300
strivera1400
contender1547
struggler1554
contentioner1593
militant1610
contendent1623
combatant1646
conflicter1658
counter-scufflera1672
agonist1687
scrambler1687
protagonist1837
belligerent1839
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > one who fights
fighterc1300
viragoa1387
barratora1400
combatant1489
combater1598
viragoa1616
scuffler1633
blue hen's chicken (also chick)c1800
scrapper1874
fightist1877
c1300 K. Alis. 5703 Alle his gode fightteres.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 66/1 This geaunt hath ben a fightar fro his chyldehod.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 102 He had of fechtaris with hym thar Ane hundreth thousand men and ma.
1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Matt. x. 16 Sheep and Doves are no good fighters against Wolves and Hawks.
1763 C. Churchill Ghost (ed. 3) i. 13 Whether repletion is not bad, And fighters with full stomachs mad.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV xx. 125 I've seen them [writers] balance even the scale with fighters.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island i. ii. 11 He did not look much like a fighter.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > [noun] > champion or fighter in single combat > on behalf of another
campionc1270
championc1330
fighter1619
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Maides Trag. iv. sig. G4v Y'are growne a glorious whore, where bee your Fighters?
c1683 in Roxburghe Ballads V. 215 Keep Frank still for your writer, And Poulteney for your fighter.
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society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > one who fights > one fond of fighting
cockera1275
fighter1413
fighting cock1546
firedrake1613
fire-eater1792
frampler1820
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1483) iv. xxxv. 83 Robbours..fyghters and debatours.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1751 The fortune of feghters may be fell chaunse.
1552 Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI c. 4 §3 Fray-makers and Fighters.
1557 Bible (Whittingham) 1 Tim. iii. 3 No fighter, nor couetous.
3. Aeronautics. A high-speed military aircraft designed for aerial combat.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > fighter
chaser1915
pursuit aeroplane1915
skyfighter1915
fighter1917
pursuit airplane1917
pursuit plane1918
flycatcher1924
pursuit aircraft1928
pursuiter1928
night fighter1941
dogfighter1943
parasite jet fighter1948
1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 260 The fighters guard the bombers until the eggs are dropped.
1936 Economist 8 Feb. 294/2 There will still be..two squadrons of bombing machines..to one squadron of fighters.
1960 C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane i. xvi. 139 (caption) The turbojet Gloster Javelin fighter.
1971 H. F. King World's Fighters xi. 116 Several different armament combinations are possible on the Lightning fighter.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
fighter aerodrome n.
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1941 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 19 Mar.–13 May 43 He sent large forces to deal with fighter aerodromes in the south and south-east of England.
fighter cover n.
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1941 D. Garnett War in Air 107 The number of Fighters with the Air Component of the B.E.F. was increased..and Fighter cover was given on the Western flank.
fighter duty n.
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1934 Times 28 July 9/5 It is a tribute to the success of the Territorial experiment..that these squadrons should have been chosen for fighter duty.
fighter escort n.
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1939 War Weekly 24 Nov. 139/4 In the hours of darkness fighter-planes will rarely, if ever, attack bombers, and, therefore, raids carried out entirely in darkness have no need of fighter escort.
fighter machine n.
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1919 N. Flower Hist. Great War XIII. 121/2 The German aviation service was in extreme need of fighter machines..and aerial machine-gunners.
fighter patrol n.
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1917 Flying 3 Oct. 161/2 A fighter patrol met a large formation of Albatross scouts.
fighter pilot n.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > fighter pilot
skyfighter1915
fighter pilot1936
1936 Air Stories Dec. 573/2 The likelihood of securing a hit is in the proportion of 9 to 1 in favour of the fighter pilot.
1939 Flight 19 Oct. 309 Fighter pilots in crews' quarters on an aerodrome.
1971 Sunday Times 1 Aug. 3/6 The fighter pilot..parachuted to safety.
fighter plane n.
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1935 Economist 17 Aug. 320/1 Unless the raiding enemy can be located he is immune..from the defending fighter planes.
fighter screen n.
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1941 Battle of Britain, Aug.–Oct. 1940 13 The covering fighter screen flew at very great heights.
fighter squadron n.
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1932 19th Cent. Feb. 202 The enemy forces which are locked up by attack are fighter squadrons.
fighter strip n.
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1944 Birmingham (Alabama) News 25 Apr. 1/1 Australian Royal Air Force engineers worked at night under floodlights..to repair the bomber and fighter strips.
fighter umbrella n.
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1942 Flight 27 Aug. 218/2 Everything..depended on the British fighter umbrella.
C2.
fighter-bomber n. an aircraft that combines the functions of a fighter and a bomber.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > combined fighter and bomber
fighter-bomber1936
1936 Air Stories Dec. 544/1 The R.A.F.'s latest fighter-bomber is as fast as any fighter yet in service anywhere in the world.
1959 Observer 14 June 16/2 American fighter-bombers equipped with nuclear weapons.
Fighter Command n. the headquarters controlling the operation of a fleet of fighters.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > [noun] > headquarters
Fighter Command1941
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > air force > [noun] > branches of
air arm1913
W.R.A.F1918
Fleet Air Arm1923
Bomber Command1939
WAAF1939
Coastal Command1940
Air Training Corps1941
Fighter Command1941
WASP1943
1941 Aeronautics Dec. 39/1 ‘Fighter Command’ did not pass into Everyman's vocabulary until well after the beginning of the war.
1942 Jane's All World's Aircraft 1941 13a/1 Fighter Command's contribution to the bombing offensive opened on November 1, 1941, when the new Hawker ‘Hurricane II’ fighter-bomber..went into action.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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