Partisan

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Partisan \Par"ti*san\ (p[aum]r"t[i^]*zan), n. [F., fr. It.
     partigiano. See {Party}, and cf. {Partisan} a truncheon.]
     [Written also {partizan}.]
     1. An adherent to a party or faction; esp., one who is
        strongly and passionately devoted to a party or an
        interest. "The violence of a partisan." --Macaulay.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Both sides had their partisans in the colony.
                                                    --Jefferson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mil.)
        (a) The commander of a body of detached light troops
            engaged in making forays and harassing an enemy.
        (b) Any member of such a corps.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Partisan \Par"ti*san\, a. [Written also partizan.]
     1. Adherent to a party or faction; especially, having the
        character of blind, passionate, or unreasonable adherence
        to a party; as, blinded by partisan zeal.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mil.) Serving as a partisan in a detached command; as, a
        partisan officer or corps.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Partisan ranger} (Mil.), a member of a partisan corps.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Partisan \Par"ti*san\, n. [F. pertuisane, prob. fr. It.
     partigiana, influenced in French by OF. pertuisier to pierce.
     It was prob. so named as the weapon of some partisans, or
     party men. Cf. {Partisan} one of a corps of light troops.]
     A kind of halberd or pike; also, a truncheon; a staff.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And make him with our pikes and partisans a grave.
                                                    --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  partisan
       adj 1: devoted to a cause or party [syn: {partizan}] [ant: {nonpartisan}]
       2: adhering or confined to a particular sect or denomination or
          party; "denominational prejudice" [syn: {denominational}]
       n 1: a fervent and even militant proponent of something [syn: {zealot},
             {drumbeater}]
       2: an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or
          activity [syn: {enthusiast}, {partizan}]
       3: a pike with a long tapering double-edged blade with lateral
          projections; 16th and 17th centuries [syn: {partizan}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  193 Moby Thesaurus words for "partisan":
     Charley, Conservative, Democrat, Labourite, Maecenas, Republican,
     Tory, VC, Vietcong, Whig, abettor, acquaintance, adherent, admirer,
     advocate, aficionado, aggressive, alter ego, angel, antiblack,
     apologist, appendage, attendant, backer, bellicose, belligerent,
     best friend, biased, bickering, bigoted, bipartisan, biparty,
     blind, booster, bosom friend, brother, buff, bushfighter,
     bushwhacker, casual, casual acquaintance, cavaliere servente,
     champion, chauvinistic, close acquaintance, close friend, cohort,
     colored, combative, confidant, confidante, courtier, dangler,
     defender, denominational, dependence, dependent, devoted, devotee,
     die-hard, disciple, disputatious, divisive, doctrinaire, dogmatic,
     encourager, endorser, enthusiast, eristic, exponent, factional,
     factious, familiar, fan, fanatic, favorer, fellow, fellow creature,
     fellowman, flunky, follower, following, freedom, friend,
     friend at court, guerilla, guerrilla, hanger-on, heeler, henchman,
     homme de cour, influenced, inseparable friend, interested,
     intimate, involved, irascible, irregular, irritable, jaundiced,
     know-nothing, limited, litigious, lover, loyalist, mainstay,
     maintainer, maquis, maquisard, myopic, narrow, narrow-minded,
     neighbor, nonobjective, one-sided, opinionated, other self,
     paranymph, parasite, parochial, partial, party, party faithful,
     party hack, party man, party member, party wheelhorse, patriot,
     patron, pickup, polarizing, polemic, prejudiced, prepossessed,
     promoter, protagonist, public, pugnacious, pursuer, pursuivant,
     quarrelsome, racist, registered Democrat, registered Republican,
     regular, reliance, repository, resistance, resistance fighter,
     rooter, satellite, second, seconder, sectarian, sectary, sectional,
     sexist, shadow, short-sighted, shrewish, sider, sponsor, stalwart,
     standby, stooge, successor, superpatriotic, support, supporter,
     sustainer, swayed, sympathizer, tagtail, tail, tendentious,
     trainbearer, twisted, ultranationalist, underground,
     underground fighter, undetached, undispassionate, unneutral,
     unreasoning, upholder, votary, ward heeler, warped, well-wisher,
     wheelhorse, wrangling, xenophobic, zealot