shooter

Etymology

From Middle English schoter, schuter, schotter, scheter, schetare, scheotere, from Old English sċēotere (“shooter”), equivalent to shoot + -er. Compare Dutch schieter, schutter (“shooter”), German Schießer (“shooter”), Swedish skjutare, West Frisian sjitter (“shooter”).

noun

1. Someone who shoots something; a gunner, archer, etc.
   The shooter put a bullet clean through her head.
2. (craps) The player throwing the dice.
   Craps involves someone rolling the dice (a shooter) and additional bettors. The game works like this: The first roll is called a come out roll. There are three conditions: 1. If the dice total is 7 or 11, the shooter wins. […] 2015, Steven Lott, Functional Python Programming, page 276
3. (slang) A firearm.
   Now all we need to establish is what a shooter belonging to one of Maitland's goons is doing in a polisman's locker. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 188
4. (slang) An associate willing to act in one's defence or to act against one's enemies, especially by force.
5. (by extension) A loyal advocate or fan.
6. A video game in which shooting enemies (or targets) is the main objective.
7. (professional wrestling slang) A professional wrestler who uses actual fighting moves as part of his style, or who speaks his mind during a live or televised event (instead of speaking from a script).
8. A large marble used for knocking smaller marbles out of a chalk circle.
   You separate the marbles by color until you have four groups, but then you notice that some of the marbles are regulars, some are shooters, and some are peewees. 2011, Jamie MacLennan, ZhaoHui Tang, Bogdan Crivat, Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server 2008
9. An alcoholic beverage typically served in a shot glass.
   We drink tequila as a shooter, but prefer to sip gin slowly to appreciate the flavour.
10. (rare) A shooting star.
11. (alternative medicine) A device supposed to accumulate orgone.