archie

name

1. A diminutive of the male given name Archibald, from the Germanic languages, also used as a formal given name.
2. (rare)A female given name.
3. A ghost town in Peninsula Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, United States.
4. A city in Cass County, Missouri, United States.
5. A former rural municipality in Manitoba, Canada, now part of Ellice-Archie.

noun

1. (World-War-I, slang, uncountable)Anti-aircraft artillery.

   “But then, dodging airbursts of Archie on the Western Front hadn't exactly been a joyride either.”

   “He was seen by an aeroplane, our Archie gunner and a whole division to crash in their lines just opposite our trenches, much jubilation and more congratulations.”

2. (World-War-I, countable, slang)A piece of anti-aircraft ordnance.

   “An inquisitive aeroplane, which had been hovering over the scene, was picked off as by an Archie and made a forced landing, man and machine buried in filth.”

   “Quickly our five machines dodged the Archies as we crossed.”

3. (informal)An Acorn Archimedes computer.

   “FOR ARCHIE USERS. At last, a powerful database with details of every track (over 700 to date) on Classic CD discs from issue 1 to the present day is available for uses of Acorn (Archimedes) computers.”

   “And what about getting the data from the Archie to the PC?”

4. (alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable)Alternative form of Archie (“anti-aircraft artillery”).

   “I had to take a large turn, for the "archies" were shooting pretty close.”

   “I'll pretend I'm scared of everything and sideslip away from every archie burst.”

   “Several of our planes droned overhead, undeterred by the German 'archies', machine-gun and rifle fire, but not as yet the contact monoplane.”