deerstalker
deerstalker Lexical Profile
deerstalker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A close-fitting cloth cap, typically made of tweed, having visors in both the front and back and earflaps that can be tied together either under the chin or over the crown, famously associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
"The actor wore a classic tweed deerstalker and carried a magnifying glass for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes."
A hunter who stalks deer on foot by moving stealthily through cover.
"The experienced deerstalker moved silently across the misty Scottish moor at dawn."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the early 19th century as a compound of "deer" and "stalker," initially referring to a hunter who pursues deer on foot. By the late 1860s, the term was transferred to the double-brimmed tweed cap worn during such hunts in the Scottish Highlands, later immortalized in Sidney Paget's illustrations of Sherlock Holmes.