plinker

English

Etymology

plink +‎ -er

Noun

plinker (plural plinkers)

1. A person who shoots at makeshift targets.
   • 1994, Diana Kappel-Smith, Desert Time: A Journey Through the American Southwest, page 98:

     Game wardens anywhere know about "plinkers" — those gun-toting folks, mostly urban, young, and male, who will shoot at anything that moves. In the deserts, urban centers are growing. Plinkers are legion.

   • 1991, Missouri Conservationist, volume 52:

     Plinkers, also called gallery shooters, don't need a formal shooting range for their sport. They shoot at things that respond. Many plinkers pick out a can or piece of charcoal to set on a spot with a safe background, then try to knock it down […]

2. A firearm used to shoot at makeshift targets.
   • 1969, Field & Stream, volume 74, number 5, page 88:

     […] the plinking gun should be more of a target arm than a defense or hunting gun, and ideally it should be one stage more sophisticated than the basic $35 to $45 revolver which many think of as a plinker.

3. One who makes a plinking sound.
   • 1958, The MATS Flyer, volume 5, page 10:

     The consumption rate of piano plinkers was terrific.

Anagrams

• prinkle