cutaway
n.— «According to a spokeswoman for the Marina Airport-based Skydive Monterey Bay, reports of a fallen skydiver this afternoon were triggered by the freefall of some equipment. The equipment, involved in a procedure known as a “cutaway,” is usually held by the skydiver from leap to landing, but in this case was dropped before one of the afternoon skydivers reached ground.» —“No skydiver injured; fall involved a ‘cutaway’” Californian (Salinas, California) Nov. 14, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
As we’ve previously discussed, firefighters don and dofftheir equipment, terms deriving from do on and do off. They are also said to dout a fire, meaning they “extinguish” it, dout being a similar shortening of do out. This is part...
Barbara Kingsolver’s book Demon Copperhead is a retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield set in today’s Appalachia. Martha shares memories of a long-ago visit to Kingsolver’s family farm in Virginia, where they...