hunter

Noun

1. One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman.
2. A dog used in hunting; a hunting dog.
   • thy intercepter, full of despite, bloody as the hunter, attends thee at the orchard end - c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies,...
3. A horse used in hunting, especially a thoroughbred, bred and trained for hunting.
   • ‘His favourite Hunter who was turned out in the park on his going abroad, somehow or other fell ill […] .’ - c. 1792–3, Jane Austen, ‘Catharine, or The Bower’, Juvenilia
   • a sound, swift, well-bred hunter and roadster - 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published...
   • No one, however, thought of the haughty and secluded young gentleman who […] when he rode on his black hunter into Dublin, avoided the village, and took the high-road by Inchicore. - 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu,...
4. One who hunts or seeks after anything.
   • The hunter becomes the hunted.
   • a fortune hunter
   • You know right well, how meek soe'er he seem, / No keener hunter after glory breathes. - 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 155:
5. A person who bottles up their aggression and eventually releases it explosively.
   • Although their behavior does not have the same impact as hunters, howlers nevertheless distract the public figure and compel security and law enforcement […] - 2008, J. Reid Meloy, Lorraine Sheridan, Jens Hoffmann,...
   • Hunters stalk their targets, make detailed plans, acquire and practice with weapons, and try to hurt or kill people. Howlers make bomb threats to schools, malls, churches, businesses, and government offices. - 2015,...

   Coordinate Terms: howler

6. A kind of spider, the huntsman or hunting spider.
7. A pocket watch with a spring-hinged circular metal cover that closes over the dial and crystal, protecting them from dust and scratches.