deerstalker

[ deer-staw-ker ]

noun

1. a person who stalks deer.
2. Also called fore-and-after. a close-fitting woolen cap having a visor in front and in back, with earflaps usually raised and tied on top of the crown, worn as a hunting cap: especially associated with Sherlock Holmes.

deerstalker

/ ˈdɪəˌstɔːkə /

noun

1. Also calledstalker a person who stalks deer, esp in order to shoot them
2. a hat, peaked in front and behind, with earflaps usually turned up and tied together on the top

Derived Forms

• ˈdeerˌstalking, adjectivenoun

Other Words From

• deerstalking noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deerstalker¹

First recorded in 1810–20; deer + stalker ( def )

Example Sentences

If he was a Hasid, he had exchanged his fur shtreimel for a deerstalker cap and traded in his somber frock coat for a green Norfolk jacket.

From Literature

A man in a deerstalker cap spoke up.

From New York Times

I have an entire shtick around my love for escape rooms, including a deerstalker hat and tweed.

From Washington Post

Woodstock’s nest is stolen, and Snoopy transforms into Sherlock Holmes, donning a deerstalker hat, blowing bubbles out of his meerschaum pipe and dusting for fingerprints in an effort to locate the culprit.

From New York Times

Woolens became such a status symbol that Arthur Conan Doyle clad his fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes in a tweed deerstalker hat in 1893.

From National Geographic