voëlvry, adjective

/ˈfʊəlfreɪ/
Forms:
Formerly also vogel vry.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, from Dutch vogelvrij outlawed, vogel bird + vrij free, not subject to restrictions.
historical
Of an outlaw: fair game, legally liable to be shot on sight.
a1875 T. Baines Jrnl of Res. (1964) II. 157Both McCabe and myself were reported to be ‘Vogel Vry’ — as free as a bird, i.e. for any one to shoot at.
1908 J.M. Orpen Reminisc. (1964) 54One Michiel Horn, somewhere Kroonstad way, considering him ‘vogel vry,’ i.e., bird-free, or outlawed, lay in wait for him and shot him dead.
1924 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 121E. had been declared an outlaw — ‘Vogelvry’ (‘as free as a bird’, meaning that anyone could shoot him at sight as if he were a bird).
1972 J.A. Nel Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)During the Boer War he was declared voël-vry by proclamation, which means he had to be shot on sight.
1986 H. Visser in Frontline Dec. 34My great grandfather was declared voëlvry by the British — to be shot on sight.
fair game, legally liable to be shot on sight.
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18751986
VOC, nounn.voerchitz, nounn.
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