sniper

Noun

sniper (plural snipers)

1. A person using long-range small arms for precise attacks from a concealed position.
   • The sniper shot him in the head.
2. (broadly) A sniper rifle.
3. Any attacker using a non-contact weapon against a specific target from a concealed position.
4. One who shoots from a concealed position.
   • The British, having cleared the open field, now faced the problem of advancing through the trees into the sniper fire of several hundred Virginia militia.1874, Richard John Batt, The Maryland Continentals, 1780-1781
5. One who criticizes; a person who frequently snipes at others.
   • No winnable seat has been found for Mr. H. L. Nathan, a powerful recruit from the Liberal ranks, and poor Mr. Wedgwood Benn, an invaluable sniper for a party in Opposition, has been out of Parliament now since 1931.c. 1934, The Living Age, volume 351, page 30
   • They always sniped at each other in public. German snipers were a wishy-washy lot compared with Lester and his wife.1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 35
6. A hunter of snipe (the bird).
7. (slang) A player who specializes in scoring goals.
   • Alexander Ovechkin is often regarded as the greatest sniper of his generation.
8. A person or automated process set up by a person who or which attempts to win an online auction by placing a bid only seconds before the auction ends, leaving no time for other bidders to respond
   • The real reason most snipers bid late in the auction is that they feel it helps them obtain bargains at the expense of novices who don't understand how proxy bidding works and who place bids for less than the amount they are really willing to pay.2004, David D. Busch, The eBay Myth-Bu$ter: Turn 199 Misconceptions Into Money!, Wiley, →ISBN, page 16
   • Sniping is the process of placing bids in the closing minutes or seconds of an auction. Snipers do this to avoid bidding wars that escalate the bids to more than they want to pay. Bidders can protect themselves against snipers by bidding the absolute maximum amount they are willing to pay with...2007, Entrepreneur Press, Start Your Own Business on eBay: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 64