1
: one that makes or applies a spot (as for identification)
2
: one that looks or keeps watch: such as
a
: one that locates enemy targets
b
: a civilian who watches for approaching airplanes
c
: a person who assists another during exercise (as to prevent injury)
3
: one that removes spots
4
: one that places something on or in a desired spot
Examples of spotter in a Sentence
When you lift weights, you should always have a spotter.
Recent Examples on the Web
The singer lifted weights on a sit-up bench with his spotter, also cooly rocking sunglasses indoors.
—
Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images A sun spotter — a type of safe eclipse viewer — shows the eclipse at the Dudley Observatory at miSci on Monday Aug. 21, 2017 in Schenectady, N.Y.
—Allison Elyse Gualtieri, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2024
An fuller explanation hasn’t been given yet, but a plane spotter, according to footage acquired by NBC Bay Area, caught fluid appearing to spray from the plane’s landing gear.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
How to make hummingbird food:Simple recipe helps attract hummingbirds to your yard
In Ohio, residents can expect to spot the birds from early April, in the southern part of the state, through early May in the north, according to the 2023 spotters' map.
—Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 27 Feb. 2024
Signature stalwart Erin Weaver, cast as a male soldier named King who becomes Jones’s spotter, deserves another Helen Hayes Award for her innumerable phonetic variations on a particular four-letter word.
—Chris Klimek, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024
View the eclipse safely through solar telescopes and sun spotters, watch live NASA video from the path of totality, or see the sun through a satellite’s ultraviolet cameras.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Normally these drones act as spotters for Lancet kamikaze drones, which are more resistant to jamming and which carry a heavier warhead than an FPV like the Ghoul.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
Weather spotters are encouraged to report snow accumulations to the weather service.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 18 Jan. 2024
Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024
Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images A sun spotter — a type of safe eclipse viewer — shows the eclipse at the Dudley Observatory at miSci on Monday Aug. 21, 2017 in Schenectady, N.Y.
—Allison Elyse Gualtieri, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2024
An fuller explanation hasn’t been given yet, but a plane spotter, according to footage acquired by NBC Bay Area, caught fluid appearing to spray from the plane’s landing gear.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
How to make hummingbird food:Simple recipe helps attract hummingbirds to your yard
In Ohio, residents can expect to spot the birds from early April, in the southern part of the state, through early May in the north, according to the 2023 spotters' map.
—Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 27 Feb. 2024
Signature stalwart Erin Weaver, cast as a male soldier named King who becomes Jones’s spotter, deserves another Helen Hayes Award for her innumerable phonetic variations on a particular four-letter word.
—Chris Klimek, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024
View the eclipse safely through solar telescopes and sun spotters, watch live NASA video from the path of totality, or see the sun through a satellite’s ultraviolet cameras.
—Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
Normally these drones act as spotters for Lancet kamikaze drones, which are more resistant to jamming and which carry a heavier warhead than an FPV like the Ghoul.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024
Weather spotters are encouraged to report snow accumulations to the weather service.
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 18 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spotter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing spotter
Dictionary Entries Near spotter
Cite this Entry
“Spotter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spotter. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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