spotter
n.— «Cal Fire blamed the delay on a shortage of military helicopter managers, better known as spotters—trained wild-land firefighters who help military pilots position water drops and communicate with firefighters in the air and on the ground.» —“ Grounded military helicopters blamed on lack of ‘spotters’” by Tony Manolatos Union-Tribune (San Diego, California) Nov. 3, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
Ribbon fall. Gallery forest. You won’t find terms like these in most dictionaries, but they and hundreds like them are discussed by famous writers in the book Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape. The book is an intriguing collection...