swatting
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The action of making an illegitimate call to the police so as to have a SWAT team dispatched to a location.
American usage; Slang
Example Sentences
- "This […] evoked a new disorder — a tendency to sudden, tic-like jabbings and swattings in the air, as if she were fending off flies or mosquitoes."
- "Swatting started in the combative world of online gaming. It was a way to terrorize someone more famous, get even with a rival or retaliate against someone with different political views."
- "Mr. Herring’s relatives said they wanted tougher laws against swatting and more training for police agencies on how to recognize potential fake calls."
Etymology
Etymology tree Middle English especial English special Proto-Germanic *wēpną Proto-West Germanic *wāpn Old English wēpn Middle English wepen English weapons Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti Proto-Germanic *andi Old English and Middle English and English and Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-der. Proto-Hellenic *tat͏̌t͏̌ō Ancient Greek τάσσω (tássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós) Ancient Greek τακτικός (taktikós)bor. New Latin tacticabor. English tactics English S.W.A.T. English SWAT Proto-Germanic *-ungō Old English -ung Middle English -ynge English -ing English swatting From SWAT + -ing.
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.