Dictionary

squipper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈskwɪpə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Blend of survival + equipment + fitter.

Meanings

1. (UK, slang) A survival equipment fitter.
   • A third significant omission is due to the fact that large numbers of Chinook, Puma and Hercules aircrews [...] together with all the 'loadies', 'sooties', 'squippers' and ground crews that support them, continue, at the time of writing, to be heavily involved in Operation Safe Haven along the northern borders of Iraq. 1991, Charles Allen, Thunder & Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf : Personal Experiences of War, Stationery Office/Tso:
   • Giving evidence to the inquest in Lincoln Cpl Morris, a Survival Equipment Fitter or “squipper” with the RAF, said he was not far from Flt Lt Cunningham’s jet at the time of the tragedy as the team prepared to fly to RAF Valley in Wales. 2014 January 20, “Red Arrows pilot inquest: Colleague tells how he watched tragedy unfold”, in Coventry Telegraph:
   • After stripping off all my other kit, I held my rubber- gloved hands behind me, the last bits still in the dirty zone, and the squipper peeled the gloves off. 1995, John Peters, John Nichol, Neil Hanson, Team Tornado: Life on a Front-Line Squadron, →ISBN:

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