deerstalker

American  

[deer-staw-ker] / ˈdɪərˌstɔ kər /

noun

1. a person who stalks deer.

2. Also called fore-and-after.  a close-fitting woolen cap having a visor in front and in back, with earflaps usually raised and tied on top of the crown, worn as a hunting cap: especially associated with Sherlock Holmes.

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deerstalker British  

/ ˈdɪəˌstɔːkə /

noun

1. Also called: stalker.  a person who stalks deer, esp in order to shoot them

2. a hat, peaked in front and behind, with earflaps usually turned up and tied together on the top

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Other Word Forms

• deerstalking noun

Etymology

Origin of deerstalker

First recorded in 1810–20; deer + stalker ( def. )

Example Sentences

Woolens became such a status symbol that Arthur Conan Doyle clad his fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes in a tweed deerstalker hat in 1893.

From National Geographic • Jan. 14, 2021

Gillette played Sherlock Holmes on stage many times, his deerstalker cap and Inverness cape shaping the image we still conjure today.

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2020

People who love finding out the back stories in fictional universes — why Sherlock Holmes wears a deerstalker hat; where Indiana Jones got his scar — will relish the chance to learn these details.

From New York Times • May 19, 2020

Laurence, 23, from Paris is wearing a deerstalker and is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society in France.

From The Guardian • Dec. 17, 2016

A potbellied man in a deerstalker hat offered three dollars for a five-dollar set of candlesticks and Soraya let him have it.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini