ninja

noun10

1. •
   (historical) a fighter in old Japan who was trained to spy on enemies and kill them in secret

   • He used to work in the Japanese agency as a ninja.
2. •
   (figurative) One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.

   • For months the Japanese spoke of national-security adviser Henry Kissinger as a ninja—the magician of Japanese legends who performs supernatural acts and practices sorcery. — 1972
3. •
   (informal, figurative) A programmer or tech worker, particularly one skilled in a particular programming language or environment; used especially in job adverts.

   • A ninja developer can take advantage of this when building large software systems, adding a bit of C# and a dabble of Python. — 2008
4. •
   (figurative) One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way.

   • Yen buyers were more subdued... fearing the Bank of Japan's new strategy of covert intervention to buy U.S. dollars through agent banks—described by some as the central bank's ninjas or secret agents. — 2003
5. •
   (euphemistic) Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address.

   • What's up, ninjas? — 2003
6. •
   (euphemistic) Synonym of man; used as a friendly term of address.

   • What up, my ninja!
7. •
   (offensive, euphemistic) Synonym of nigger.
8. •
   [in the plural] (slang, figurative) A notional draconian arm of a corporation (originally Nintendo), tasked with dealing with individuals that infringe on its rights or do not comply with its regulations.

   • I had TOTK running on my pc 2 weeks before it released on the switch and I'm still here. They can send the ninjas, I'm waiting. — 2024
9. •
   An anti-government Bakongo rebel, active in Pool Department, Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville).

   • To punish a population seen as Ninja sympathisers, the government last year effectively sealed off the entire region and barred all aid, turning Pool into a blank space on the humanitarian map. — 2003
10. •
    (slang, figurative) An amateur private miner in Mongolia.

    • Many were former nomads, but as the gold rush gathered pace, students, vets and taxi drivers from Ulan Bator joined the ninjas, not just in Ogoomor but in other gold towns across the country. — 2007

verb3

1. •
   To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.

   • I leapt up, ninja'd over to Gav's bed and wheeched the duvet off. — 1992
2. •
   (Internet) to beat someone to a post; to make the same reply just before the other party finishes typing, making their response redundant.

   • When I hit post, I saw that Blue Emu had ninja'd me, so I just deleted my reply.
3. •
   (Internet, slang) To claim an item through abuse of game mechanics.

   • That damn warrior ninja'd an epic-quality wand even though he can't even use it!

adjective1

1. •
   (informal) Fast and sneaky.

   • After Marshall fell asleep Elisa eventually jumped into the bed with me while I was turned facing away from her. She was very ninja about it as she put it. — 2011

adjective1

1. •
   Initialism of no income, no job or assets, describing credit characteristics of a borrower, usually of a residential mortgage.