ninja

American  

[nin-juh] / ˈnɪn dʒə /

noun

PLURAL

ninja, ninjas

1. (often initial capital letter)  a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents highly trained in martial arts and stealth ninjutsu, who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.

2. a person who is expert or highly skilled in a specified field or activity (often used attributively).

   marketing ninjas; ninja programmers.

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verb (used with object)

ninjaed, ninjaing

1. Slang.  Also ninja loot (in a video game) to unfairly claim (valuable items or loot) from a treasure pool by taking them from a kill made by another player or bypassing the agreed-upon system for loot distribution in a group.

   When I ninja an epic item, I log off the server before anyone even realizes what happened.

ninja British  

/ ˈnɪndʒə /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage

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Etymology

Origin of ninja

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese, equivalent to nin- “endure” + -ja, combining form of -sha “person, agent” (from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese rěn + zhě )

Example Sentences

The story follows Toto, a cat that is completely blind but uses ninja skills which aid her in her adventures with her brother Silver.

From BBC

Luckily, the rest of the task went well, partly thanks to Mohammed, who Garraway described as a "puzzle ninja".

From BBC

The first of these revival projects, ninja adventure Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, slashed its way on to some critics' game of the year shortlists when it came out last month.

From BBC

Global content giant Lionsgate is reportedly developing Naruto, an anime about a young, underdog ninja who works his way up to become the village protector.

From BBC

After the house fell silent, they rifled through pockets of clothes inside the closet, finding a manicure kit and a ninja star inside a box of childhood mementos.

From Los Angeles Times