shoulder arms

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

shoulder arms (third-person singular simple present shoulders arms, present participle shouldering arms, simple past and past participle shouldered arms)

1. (intransitive, military) Of a soldier at drill, to place a rifle on the right shoulder, with the forearm parallel to the ground and the hand holding the butt.

   Synonym: slope arms (UK & Commonwealth)

2. (intransitive, cricket) To deliberately lift the bat out of the path of the ball when it is judged to be missing the wicket.