dogfighter

1 8.5

A pilot who fights other planes at close range

noun
/ˈdɔɡˌfaɪtər/

Specialized

: piloto de caza

In the skies over the battlefield, the dogfighter engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the opposing pilot.

Examples

The skilled dogfighter expertly maneuvered his aircraft to outsmart the enemy in a fierce aerial battle.
To that special breed of sky devil known and feared throughout the world, the marine dogfighter.

The Great Santini (1979)
Both vehicles were out of control, bouncing across the highway and past each other like dogfighters over blitz-time London.

Fiction book (2002)
Working with HSUS and members of the clergy, former dogfighters and former gang members talk to at-risk youth on inner-city streets, interrupt dogfights in progress, and show kids that pit bulls are friends, not fighters.

Blog text (7)
During training exercises, the young pilot was praised for his abilities as a promising dogfighter in simulated dogfights.

Synonyms

fighter pilot

vsdogfighter

Specialized

29 4.0

A person who flies military combat planes

is more narrowly about close-range air combat rather than general combat flying

combat pilot

vsdogfighter

2 6.0

A person who flies military planes to fight enemy aircraft

focuses specifically on close-range fighting between aircraft

Antonyms

noncombatant

1 7.3

Not taking part in fighting, especially for civilians during war

How Skilled

dogfighter

Specialized

1 8.5

fighter pilot

Specialized

29 4.0

Surface Forms

dogfighter singular

dogfighters plural

Morphology

dogfighter = dogfight (semi-transparent) = dog + fight + er

The agentive suffix '-er' is clear, but the base word 'dogfight' is a specialized compound whose meaning is not fully predictable from 'dog' and 'fight' alone.

Etymology

Dogfighter comes from dogfight, a name pilots gave to tight air battles because the planes turn and snap at each other like fighting dogs. So a dogfighter is a pilot who fights at 'close range' in the sky.