snipingn.

/ˈsnʌɪpɪŋ/

Etymology: < snipe v.

a. The action of snipe v. 1, 2a.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > type of firing

point and blank1590

false fire1602

potting1613

point-blank1614

running fire1629

pounding1633

bulleting1635

platooning1706

sharp-shot1725

street firing1727

ricochet1740

fire curtain1744

plunging fire1747

reverse fire1758

sniping1773

enfilade1796

rapid fire1800

line-firing1802

concentric1804

sharpshooting1806

rake1810

sniping fire1821

cross-firing1837

file-firing1837

curved fire1854

night firing1856

file-fire1857

volley-firing1859

cross-fire1860

joy-firing1864

snap-shooting1872

stringing1873

pot-shooting1874

indirect fire1879

sweeping1907

rapid1913

curtain of fire1916

ripple1939

ripple-firing1940

ripple fire1961

1773 Let. fr. India in J. W. Fortescue Hist. Brit. Army III. 141 [The soldiers..put their hats on the parapet for the enemy to shoot at, and] humorously called it sniping.

1891 Daily News 29 Dec. 2/1 The sniping of the outposts against each other.

1898 B. Burleigh Sirdar & Khalifa x. 162 Our camps upon the right bank of the Atbara were exceptionally open to snipeing by night.

b. figurative. The making of sly critical assaults; sharp fault-finding or carping. Frequently with at.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > [noun] > indirect

sniping1892

1892 Mrs. H. Ward David Grieve I. vi. 128 Hannah's appetite for snipin' returned.

1935 E. Pound Let. 7 Feb. (1971) 267 Eng. print so smeared with personal sniping and clique politics that any definition of limitations..is likely to be taken as ‘anti-’.

1945 Sun (Baltimore) 25 June 1/3 There has been a lot of unfortunate sniping at the project.

1955 Ess. in Crit. 5 64 Mr. Liddell's ‘criticisms’ of his essay..are mere sniping and peripheral eroding which say next to nothing about their subject.

1969 H. Perkin Key Profession vi. 229 Hence that perpetual sniping..at the universities for their supposed idleness and inefficiency.

1977 Time 4 July 2/3 Your sniping at the U.N. and its jobs-for-the-boys was not premature.

1980 ‘M. Fonteyn’ Magic of Dance 214 Taglioni, tired of petty sniping and endless comparisons favouring her rival, journeyed to St. Petersburg.

a. Snipe-shooting.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > [noun] > shooting other birds

ducking1589

pouting1672

partridging1682

cocking1686

teal-shooting1874

sniping1875

1875 Ibis 15 The doctor..was not accustomed to sniping, and our bag was not so full at the end of the day as it might have been.

1877 C. Hallock Sportsman's Gazetteer 174 The pleasures of Bay bird shooting should not be spoken of in the same sentence with cocking or sniping.

b. attributive. Engaged in snipe-shooting.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooter > [adjective]

pot-hunting1808

sniping1840

gunning1883

shooting1891

1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports Foreign Lands II. v. 142 Frequently the slaughter committed by a sniping party is so great, that..nothing but the brains and trail are eaten, the rest being cast away.

3. Prospecting for gold, esp. in old diggings. North American slang.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > mining > [noun] > prospecting > types of prospecting for gold, diamonds, or opal

stampede1846

river digging1850

pocket mining1872

potholing1885

sniping1897

Klondiking1900

specking1901

pork-knocking1965

1897 M. H. E. Hayne Pioneers of Klondyke 93 There is little ‘snipping’ [sic]—i.e. working old bars—on Forty Mile Creek, but it does not pay much.

1963 Placer Mining B.C. 7/1 Chinese miners were particularly adept at sniping... Sniping and bar-combing are..carried out by individuals who would rather do this than work for wages.

4. Australian. Working as a non-union labourer.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > working > [noun] > other types of working

self-employment1834

sweating1843

homeworking1844

clock-watching1860

freelancing1879

guinea-pigging1887

outworking1918

sniping1951

sunlighting1961

temping1973

teleworking1981

hotelling1991

1951 Meanjin 10 334 You never scabbed, or anything like that? You never did any sniping?

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2019).

snipingadj.