trainern.
/ˈtreɪnə/, U.S. /ˈtreɪnər/ I. In senses of train v.1 II.† 2. A member of a trainband, esp. when assembled for training or drill; a militiaman. In later use U.S. Obsolete.
1. A person who provides training.
a. A person who provides sustained instruction and practice in an art, profession, occupation, or procedure; an instructor; (more generally) a person who brings a child or children up, an educator. Also figurative and with up.In quot. 1807 with a play on sense 1c.speech, teacher-trainer, etc.: see the first element.
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society > education > teaching > teacher > [noun]
larewc900
mastereOE
lorthewc1160
lore-fatherc1175
lerera1340
lister1377
loresman1377
doctora1382
learner1382
teacherc1384
readera1387
lore-mastera1400
former1401
informer?c1422
preceptorc1450
instructora1464
informator1483
doctrinal?1504
lear-father1533
usher1533
instructer1534
trainer1543
educator1609
instituter1670
institutorc1675
subpreceptor1696
Barbe1710
pundit1816
umfundisi1825
preception1882
guru1884
mwalimu1884
rabbi1917
1543 T. Chaloner tr. G. Cousin Office of Seruauntes sig. Bv Drunkynnes..myght partely be borne with, ne were nat the same a trayner of soo huge a heape of vyces.
1571 E. Grant tr. Plutarch President for Parentes sig. C.i Yf all the trayners vppe of children were so determined too craue, but halfe so muche as Aristippus did, they shoulde haue very fewe auditors.
1717 T. Burnet & G. Duckett Summary Relig. Houses Eng. & Wales 91 He tells us in his Letters, that the Jesuits were the Trainers up of Ravilliac's and King-killers.
1807 Monthly Mirror Oct. 288 The debutante of this evening..was a Miss Stubbs, who has been training in the country; but her provincial trainers have exhibited themselves bad judges, by turning her out of hand so soon.
a1835 T. Barr in W. S. Kennedy Plan of Union (1856) i. iv. 49 She was not only the mother, but the pious, faithful, affectionate trainer up of my children in the way that they should go.
1855 F. A. Paley in tr. Aeschylus Agamemnon in Trag. 417/1 Imprisonment and the pangs of hunger are first-rate trainers of the mind for teaching even old age.
1891 S. Mostyn Curatica 45 I took lessons in elocution... I cannot leave this part of my story without pausing to do honour to my trainer.
1919 R. L. Felton Country Life in Georgia 294 A lady who is the woman of all work in the family—trainer of children—housekeeper and cook—seamstress and servant, [etc.].
?1937 in L. Passerini Europe in Love, Love in Europe (1999) iv. 177 There was never such a cook, such a born home-maker, such a trainer-up of docile little maid servants as Herma Briffault.
1958 Rotarian Aug. 58/3 No other subject..is as great a builder of character,..trainer of good citizenship, and bridger of all classes, all ages, all races.
1968 ETC. June 203 As trainer of a sensitivity group..it was essential not to establish myself as an authority figure.
2010 T. Wireman Training Programs for Maintenance Organizations vi. 104 The trainers will need to consider who the target trainees are.
b. spec. A person who trains or drills soldiers, a drill sergeant.Now merging with senses 1a, 1d.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > instructor > in drill
trainer1598
drill-sergeant1803
drill-master1870
drill-instructor1876
bungee1915
springer1935
basher1942
square-basher1959
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres i. 6 The trayning of men..done..by such sufficient Trayners.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xix. v. 130 For the leaders and trainers of these Gaules, as beeing the chiefetaines of valiant deeds,..the Emperour commaunded, there should be their statues all armed set up at Edessa.
1754 A. Berthelson Eng. & Danish Dict. Trainer,..A trainer of soldiers.
1808 Parl. Reg. II. 429 They were turned out of the hands of their trainers unfit for any service, and without any obligation to any except in the event of an invasion.
1907 Hansard's Parl. Deb. 4th Ser. 176 1099 They are to be local bodies scattered all through the country as training experts,..with everything they can have to enable them to become efficient trainers.
1980 F. L. Carsten Rise of Fascism (1982) iii. 99 Several former naval officers became the organizers and trainers of the S.A. which was soon a highly efficient military force.
2008 Indianapolis Star 13 Jan. (Early ed.) a14/4 The trainers will throw one simulated violent scenario after another at the troops.
c. A person who trains animals to obey orders or to perform particular tasks or functions. Also: a person who brings horses or greyhounds to a suitable state of fitness for racing. Also in figurative contexts and †with up.bullfinch, dog, racehorse trainer, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [noun] > taming or training > tamer or trainer
dauntera1522
tamer1530
breaker1552
trainer1659
feeder1781
lion-tamer1798
domesticator1872
1659 H. More Immortality of Soul iii. xvii. §5. 508 As the basest men are the trainers up of the best sort of Dogs.
1777 London Rev. Eng. & Foreign Lit. Mar. 233 According to many he is a—‘collector and trainer of mad-bulls’, which he sends about the world to annoy and gore those who refuse paying a certain tax, called Peter pence.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 99 Mr. Price trainer at Newmarket.
1860 W. Collins Woman in White (1865) 91/2 This trainer of canary-birds, this architect of a pagoda for white mice, is..one of the first experimental chemists living.
1885 W. Day Racehorse in Training (ed. 5) xxi. 209 In the account that has been given of the process of training the racehorse, it will be seen that the life of the trainer has its full share of responsibility, cares, and difficulties.
1921 A. Dighton Greyhound & Coursing viii. 141 The man who feeds and trains half-a-dozen greyhounds all on the same food and each the same amount of exercise may occasionally, by good luck, have one fit, but he is not a real trainer.
1963 A. Baron Lowlife xvi. 170 He can bet on owners, he can bet on trainers, he can bet on jockeys, he studies pedigree, he invents systems a professor wouldn't understand. And he still loses.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 21 July d4/5 Dogs that obey a trainer's signal and choose not to bark are most definitely behaving.
d. A person who supervises another or others in physical preparations for athletic or sporting competition, or in a programme to enhance fitness or bodily appearance. Also: an official of a sports team responsible for treating players' injuries.personal, player-trainer, etc.: see the first element.
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society > leisure > sport > training > [noun] > coach
trainer1807
coach1885
player-coach1932
player-trainer1956
personal trainer1993
1807 J. Sinclair Code Health & Longevity II. 88 The purges and sweating are repeated,..and from time to time his trainer, (regarding him no otherwise than he would a running-horse, under the like discipline), takes him out, and makes a trial of his wind and strength.
1834 D. Walker Brit. Manly Exercises (1836) 284 The known rules are adequate to the purpose, if the pedestrian strictly adhere to them, and the trainer bestow a moderate degree of attention to his state and condition during the progress of training.
1870 Harvard Advocate 14 Oct. 3/1 Yale's trainer was on the course, coaching his crew.
1912 Boys' Life Oct. 2/1 The big athletes were getting ready for the game under the critical supervision of the coach and the trainer.
1954 Baseball Digest Jan. 51/2 Philley promptly sprained his right ankle. Packy Schwartz, the team's trainer, surveyed the new twist.
1985 V. Terrace Encycl. Television Series, Pilots & Specials 96/4 Guided by George Beifus, his trainer,..the series follows Johnny as he struggles to become a world champion.
2009 C. Nowell & G. Zoz Start Somewhere iv. 50 When my trainer weighed me the first time, he didn't make me feel like a bad or shameful person.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by type of service > [noun] > militiaman
trainer1581
train soldier1630
trainman1633
militiaman1668
tame jolly1867
1581–2 in Trans. Devonshire Assoc. Adv. Sci. (1894) 26 351 Pd..for makinge cleane of the Caliuers for the trayners xvjd.
1696 R. Howlett School Recreat. (new ed.) 55 The Exercise of the Musket by it self..may be much advantageous to young Trainers, who have occasion to be called or sent out upon Duty in the City or Country and Country Militia of the Trained Bands.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. iv. 102 Law Corporal! if that aint you!—Well, as I'm alive! I reckon!—a trainer too, or I'm darned!
1841 C. M. Kirkland in Knickerbocker Apr. 276 The gentler sex, partaking..in the excitement of the time, yet exhibit their patriotism..by unwearied running after the ‘trainers’.
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Trainers, the militia when assembled for exercise.
3. A thing used in training.
a. Horticulture. A structure directing growth in a desired shape or direction; a frame on which plants are trained.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > trellis or framework
trailc1460
trellis1513
palisado1604
counter-espalier1658
palisade1658
pole hedge1658
treillage1698
trellis-work1712
espalier1736
trellis-frame1766
trainer1836
balloon1881
trellising1913
palm-stand1926
wigwam1961
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > stake for plants
fork1389
incrementc1420
stakingc1440
stay1577
stick1577
bean-wood1584
pea stick1745
beanpole1798
stickings1800
bean-stick1823
pea-stake1840
flower-stick1881
pea-bough1885
trainer2004
1836 Floricultural Mag. June 23 Mr. King exhibited a great variety of improved garden tools, amongst which were a mowing machine, flower trainers, garden chairs, &c.
1850 Cottage Gardener 19 Sept. 381/2 When these flat or round trainers are not fastened externally by the side of the pot, but descend among the soil inside, a wire should be fastened round the rim of the pot outside.
1895 Gardening Illustr. 31 Aug. 406/3 Do not prune: train the shoot on a wire trainer or round some sticks before it begins to grow.
1921 Garden Mag. Sept. 64/1 (advt.) We also make ‘Buffalo’ portable fencing system, vine trainers, tree guards, garden furniture and window guards.
2004 J. Mason Nursery Managem. (ed. 2) ix. 166 You should determine how long the stake or trainer is to be left with the plant.
b. An aircraft or simulator used in training pilots or other aircrew.jet, prop trainer: see the first element.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > trainer
Rumpty1917
trainer1932
1918 Yale Forest School News 1 July 36/2 For trainer planes, with not over 110 H. P. motor, the principal propeller woods used are quarter-sawed white oak, cherry, birch, and Philippine mahogany.]
1932 W. H. Auden Orators ii. 59 1 Moth trainer fully equipped for advanced training.
1950 Hansard Commons 21 Mar. 1771 The introduction of the Prentice as the basic trainer has enabled instrument flying instruction to be improved considerably.
1958 P. Bryant Red Alert 80 The best time they had recorded in the synthetic trainer back at Sonora was eight minutes three seconds. But that was in a trainer, running the drill on a dummy bomb.
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy xvi. 368 A row of single-engined military trainers.
2008 R. I. Bourgeois-Doyle Her Daughter the Engineer v. 117 A trainer must..have at least two seats and be versatile.
c. In general use: a piece of equipment used in training.
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1945 Life 20 Aug. 97/2 The trainer..produces exactly the same images in the radar viewing screen, or ‘scope’ as those seen by radar operators on actual flights.
1960 K. Hofmarksrichter in A. Ewing Mod. Educ. Treatm. of Deafness xlvi. 3 Auditory training in the Kindergarten is performed only by a single person. We do not use as a rule individual hearing aids, but use an apparatus, called a ‘Trainer’.
1982 Pop. Sci. July 42/1 To use the trainer, the player clamps his club to a rolling guide on the track.
1996 S. Jonas Essent. Triathlete vi. 153 You just bring in your bike and mount it securely on the trainer, and you're ready to ride.
2011 Smyth County News & Messenger (Marion, Va.) (Nexis) 14 June The trainer generates realistic sound effects, smoke.., and stairs for going to the second floor or, if the training is entered from the top as though it were at ground level, the basement.
d. British. A soft running shoe without spikes; a soft shoe suitable for sport or casual wear.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > for specific purpose > other
walking shoe1694
training shoe1837
tackiec1902
moccasin1929
trainer shoe1944
trainer1968
bootee1974
cross-trainer1987
1968 World Sports Feb. 30/1 (advt.) Gola ‘Trainer’.
1977 Gola Catal. 14 Junior Cobra, Ideal for youngsters—a popular trainer in black leather. Padded collar, insole, tongue, and raised back.
1982 New Society 4 Mar. 344/2 Skinny teenage boys in the ubiquitous parkas, jeans and trainers.
1983 Listener 28 July 19/1 Dr. Garrow is welcome to don trainers and join the ladies I run with on Saturdays.
2008 D. Lodge Deaf Sentence (2009) xvi. 224 They wear a kind of prison uniform: track suits, shorts, trainers and, in the rain, kagools [sic].
II. In senses of train v.1 I.† 4. A person who or thing which pulls or drags something along. Obsolete. rare.† 6. A string used in describing a circle. Obsolete.
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1594–5 Acct. Bk. W. Morton in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Tranar For ane pylot..xl s. For ankerage..xxx s. For bred..xl s. For the tranaris xxx s.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Sleyper, a Trainer, or a Dragger.
5. U.S. A person who directs or aims a gun; Naval Gunnery a gunner responsible for the horizontal aiming of a gun or turret (cf. pointer n. 13c).
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > [noun] > member of gun's crew
trainer1899
sight-setter1909
1829 J. F. Cooper Borderers I. iii. 63 When the trainer from the Hartford town struck the wild-cat on the hill clearing, he sent the bullet from a five foot barrel.
1899 J. R. Young Reminisc. & Thrilling Stories of War by Returned Heroes xxv. 442 A second later and the trainer swings the nearest ship into his field, and he fires again.
1904 Sci. Amer. 18 June 475/1 The turrets are trained by one man, the trainer.
1953 T. Roscoe U.S. Destroyer Operations in World War II i. i. 16/2 In all-electric power drive mounts, the trainer moves the mount in train.
1999 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune (Nexis) 4 Feb. 8 b Webb's 0800-1200 watch that day consisted of a crew that had two fire director officers, an assistant officer, a pointer, a trainer, a range finder, and a radar operator.
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society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > drawing instruments
sweep1680
bow1706
trammel1725
stock1815
cyclograph1823
trainer1848
set square1854
stereograph1877
tracer1878
philograph1892
1848 A. Stevenson Acct. Skerryvore Lighthouse i. 130 The outline of the circular foundation pit, 42 feet in diameter, having been traced with a trainer on the rock, numerous jumper-holes were bored in various places.
1854 H. Miller Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) xxi. 459 There occurred on the..sand, around decaying tufts of the bent-grass, deeply-marked circles, as if drawn by a pair of compasses or a trainer.
Compounds
C1. In the senses ‘used during training’, ‘designed or suitable for a learner’.
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1918 Yale Forest School News 1 July 36/2 For trainer planes, with not over 110 H. P. motor, the principal propeller woods used are quarter-sawed white oak, cherry, birch, and Philippine mahogany.
1941 Pop. Mech. Dec. 82/1 Both teacher and pupil can ride on a ‘trainer bicycle’ for beginners.
1976 Milton Keynes Express 2 July 25/1 (advt.) Baby walker, babycare bath mat and toddler trainer seat £2, or will sell separately.
1977 Austral. Sailing Jan. 46/1 For the very young, the best way into sailing is through a sailing club in a trainer class like the Sabot or Manly Junior.
1998 K. Lette Altar Ego xxiv. 218 Kate hoiked up the stretchy trainer pants bucketing her ponderous buttocks.
C2.
trainer bra n. (a) a brassiere designed to develop or enhance the size of the breasts; (b) = training bra n. at training n. Compounds 2.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > brassière
brassière1911
bra1936
trainer bra1950
training bra1963
1950 Van Nuys (Calif.) News 9 Oct. 8/8 (advt.) Wear Paulette's ‘Trainer’ bra and your bust size will start increasing within two weeks by a corrective muscle control course.
1971 Ukiah (Calif.) Daily Jrnl. 6 Aug. 3/5 (advt.) Trainer bra for young teens.
1987 K. Lette Girls' Night Out (1989) 110 A trainer bra..pushed up your tiny pillows of flesh and made them pout over the top of your T-shirt.
2010 H. Allen Dead is new Black xiv. 238 Although Grammie reassured me that I was a late bloomer, for a few months I was convinced that I was doomed to a life of Kleenex-stuffed trainer bras.
trainer shoe n. originally U.S. (a) (originally) a shoe designed to be the first footwear of a young child, esp. one who is beginning to walk; (b) (now usually) = sense 3d.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > for specific purpose > other
walking shoe1694
training shoe1837
tackiec1902
moccasin1929
trainer shoe1944
trainer1968
bootee1974
cross-trainer1987
1944 Miami (Okla.) Daily News-Record 1 Dec. 6/4 (advt.) For the Infant's First Christmas... Trainer shoes.
1960 Paris (Texas) News 10 Jan. 14/5 (advt.) Feather-weight soles! Infant's trainer shoes... For baby's first steps!
1976 Courier News (Blytheville, Arkansas) 2 June (West's Suppl.) 16 (advt.) For the sportsminded man in your family give him a pair of blue nylon trainer shoes with padded ankles.
2006 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 24 Sept. (Features section) 35 English schools have sent secondhand boots and trainer shoes, and the children wear football strips donated by the participating clubs.
trainer wheels n. (a) the trailing wheels of a locomotive (rare) [perhaps in error for trailer] ; (b) = training wheel n. 3.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle > parts and equipment of cycles > wheels
guider1886
steering wheel1888
free wheel1899
trainer wheels1918
training wheel1950
1918 Emporia (Kansas) Gaz. 21 Feb. 5/4 Santa Fe engine 1811 has been in the shops for a new pair of trainer wheels.
1953 Life 14 Sept. 100/1 (advt.) Trainer wheels make learning easy, are removable and adjustable.
1980 Frederick (Maryland) Post 2 Apr. a10 (advt.) Junior Miss Sidewalk Bike Puncture proof tires. Matching two-tone saddle. Trainer wheels and basket included.
2001 D. Robertson in F. Hanks & P. L. Williams Trade Pract. Act 19 After 25 years of case law in this and overseas jurisdictions, have we learnt enough antitrust law and economics to allow our judges to remove the trainer wheels of strict liability and do some actual competition analysis?
Derivatives
ˈtrainer-like adj.
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1837 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes Knights i. iii, in Comedies 180 That's a good trainer-like remark [Gk. ἀλλ᾽ εὖ λέγεις καὶ παιδοτριβικῶς ταυταγί].
2006 Running Times Apr. 38 The Endurance 2 includes some trainer-like componentry: a foam medial post, a supplemental cushioning system in the heel.
2006 C. G. Murdock Dairy Queen xi. 83 Trying to look all trainerlike, I whipped out the football I'd brought along.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1543