spotter

[ spot-er ]

/ ˈspɒt ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spotter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person employed to remove spots from clothing, especially at a dry-cleaning establishment.

(in civil defense) a civilian who watches for enemy airplanes.

Informal. a person employed to watch the activity and behavior of others, especially employees, as for evidence of dishonesty.

Military. an observer at a forward position who singles out targets for gunners.

a person or thing that spots.

(in small-arms practice firing) a small black disk attached to the target to make more prominent the places where a bullet has hit.

an assistant to a sportscaster who provides the names of the players chiefly involved in each play of a game, especially a football game.

Gymnastics, Tumbling. a person who is stationed in the most effective place to guard against an injury to a performer in the act of executing a maneuver.

Nearby words

spotted sunfish, spotted tail, spotted wilt, spotted wintergreen, spottedly, spotter, spottie, spotty, spousal, spousally, spouse

Origin of spotter

First recorded in 1605–15; spot + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spotter

This feeling was not unnatural, since the detection came through a discredited channel, the spotter.
Letters from an Old Railway Official|Charles DeLano Hine
And in the meantime, if things panned, Jimmy could be useful as a spotter.
The Fourth R|George Oliver Smith
Somewhere on one of the neighboring hills the “spotter” was telephoning the range.
With the French in France and Salonika|Richard Harding Davis
The Yankee spotter was not to be permitted to get away with his prey, if the men of Perth could prevent.
Old Broadbrim Into the Heart of Australia|Author of "Old Broadbrim"

They keep down the wrong lead until the auditor derails them at the spotter's switch.
Letters from an Old Railway Official|Charles DeLano Hine

British Dictionary definitions for spotter

spotter

/ (ˈspɒtə) /

noun

a person or thing that watches or observes
(as modifier)a spotter plane

a person who makes a hobby of watching for and noting numbers or types of trains, buses, etca train spotter

military a person who orders or advises adjustment of fire on a target by observations

a person, esp one engaged in civil defence, who watches for enemy aircraft

US informal an employee assigned to spy on his colleagues in order to check on their honesty

films

a person who checks against irregularities and inconsistencies
a person who searches for new material, performers, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012