sniper

plural snipers

1. A person using long-range small arms for precise attacks from a concealed position.

   The sniper shot him in the head.

2. broadlyA sniper rifle.
3. Any attacker using a non-contact weapon against a specific target from a concealed position.
4. One who shoots from a concealed position.

   The British, having cleared the open field, now faced the problem of advancing through the trees into the sniper fire of several hundred Virginia militia.

   1874, Richard John Batt, The Maryland Continentals, 1780-1781

5. One who criticizes; a person who frequently snipes at others.

   They always sniped at each other in public. German snipers were a wishy-washy lot compared with Lester and his wife.

   1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 35

   1 more example

   No winnable seat has been found for Mr. H. L. Nathan, a powerful recruit from the Liberal ranks, and poor Mr. Wedgwood Benn, an invaluable sniper for a party in Opposition, has been out of Parliament now since 1931.

   c. 1934, The Living Age, volume 351, page 30

6. A hunter of snipe (the bird).
7. slanghobbiesA player who specializes in scoring goals.

   Alexander Ovechkin is often regarded as the greatest sniper of his generation.

8. A person or automated process set up by a person who or which attempts to win an online auction by placing a bid only seconds before the auction ends, leaving no time for other bidders to respond

   The smart sniper slips in and places the final winning bid when it's too late for the other bidder to respond.

   2012, Jack White, Mystique of Marketing Art on eBay, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 11

   3 more examples

   The real reason most snipers bid late in the auction is that they feel it helps them obtain bargains at the expense of novices who don't understand how proxy bidding works and who place bids for less than the amount they are really willing to pay.

   2004, David D. Busch, The eBay Myth-Bu$ter: Turn 199 Misconceptions Into Money!, Wiley, →ISBN, page 16

   Sniping is the process of placing bids in the closing minutes or seconds of an auction. Snipers do this to avoid bidding wars that escalate the bids to more than they want to pay. Bidders can protect themselves against snipers by bidding the absolute maximum amount they are willing to pay with eBay's proxy bidding system.

   2007, Entrepreneur Press, Start Your Own Business on eBay: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 64

   The successful sniper makes one bid only—and makes it count. Sniping happens on eBay because the end time of each auction is rigidly enforced. If you know that an auction ends at 12:01:30, you can time your snipe to hit at 12:01:29, leaving no time for any other bidders to trump your bid.

   2008, Michael Miller, Absolute Beginner's Guide to EBay, Que Publishing, →ISBN, page 68