desperado
noun
- chess term; piece that is "en prise" or trapped, but captures an enemy piece before it is itself captured
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɛspəˈɹɑːdəʊ/
noun
Etymology: From obsolete Spanish desperado, past participle of desperar, archaic form of desesperar (“to despair”), from Latin disperare (“to despair, to lose hope”), from prefix dis- + sperare (“to hope”). Doublet of desperate.
- A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West.
“The kind of persons who excite or give signal to such revolutions — students, young men of letters […], or fierce and justly bankrupt desperadoes, acting everywhere on the discontent of the millions and blowing it into flame, — might give rise to reflections as to the character of our epoch.”
“Surely this was the face of a desperado.”
- A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, an addict, etc.
“The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game.”
- A person who is desperately in love or is desperate for a romantic or sexual relationship.
- A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check.