nuclear summer

A period, hypothesized to follow a nuclear winter, in which surface temperatures rise to a dangerous degree because of the release of carbon dioxide and methane from decayed organic matter.


NFU

National Farmers Union
w:National Farmers Union


NFU

Initialism of no first use. (of nuclear weapons)

(set theory) Initialism of New Foundations with urelements.


MARV

A maneuverable reentry vehicle, a type of nuclear warhead capable of shifting targets in flight.


grenadelike

en-adj

grenadelike (comparative more grenadelike, superlative most grenadelike)

more grenadelike (comparative)
most grenadelike (superlative)

The grenadelike munitions, tens of thousands of which have been found in southern Lebanon, have caused 30 deaths and 180 injuries among civilians since the end of the war, according to the United Nations Mine Action Service.

2007 January 28, David S. Cloud, “Israel May Have Violated Arms Pact, U.S. Says”, in New York Times:


balisword

Blend of balisong + sword, to indicate the extensive length of the tool.


butterfly knife

en-noun

butterfly knife (plural butterfly knives)

Compound of butterfly + knife from the opening motion of the knife.

A folding pocket knife with two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles.


balisong

Popularly believed to derive from the Tagalog phrase baling sungay (literally "broken horn"), since the original balisongs were made from carved animal horns.


birdshot

birdshot (countable and uncountable, plural birdshots)

A rifle or pistol cartridge containing small shot instead of a single larger projectile.


red mercury

A supposed substance for use in the creation of nuclear bombs and other weapons, about which there are various conspiracy theories.


CCW

(US, firearms) Initialism of concealed carry weapon.


CCW

(US, firearms) Initialism of carrying a concealed weapon.


headstamp

Photographs were taken of the weapons' serial numbers and [of the] markings on the bottoms of the cartridge casings, known as headstamps, which can reveal where and when ammunition was made.

2009 Chivers, C.J. (The New York Times), Is U.S. Ammo going to Taliban?; run in Austin American-Statesman, May 20, 2009, p A-1

(military, firearms) The identification marking on the base (bottom) of a cartridge casing.


cherry bomb

A spherical, cherry-sized firecracker that generates a high-power explosion.


DAO

DAO (countable and uncountable, plural DAOs)

(firearms) Initialism of double action only, a trigger mechanism for revolving cylinder and semi-automatic firearms.


field artillery

field artillery (countable and uncountable, plural field artilleries)

The part of an army's artillery which consists of (light) fieldpieces (cannons, howitzers) which are mobile enough to deploy on the (battle) field, as opposed to the fixed guns in fortifications or naval artillery; usually excludes antiaircraft.


megatonnage

megatonnage (countable and uncountable, plural megatonnages)

"We have grown accustomed to a deadly paradox: the world's greatest megatonnage of TNT is buried in the heart of the earth's most productive agricultural area.

1988 September 9, Harold Henderson, “The City File”, in Chicago Reader:

That simple idea gained increasing public support in the late 1970s and early 80s as an alternative to the complexities of the arms race, with its continuing posturing and intermittent negotiations about megatonnage, throw weight and inspections.

2007 October 26, Dennis Hevesi, “Randall Forsberg, 64, Nuclear Freeze Advocate, Dies”, in New York Times:

The destructive power of an explosive, measured in megatons.


rondel

From Middle English rondel, from Old French rondel, a diminutive of ronde, the feminine of ront, reont (“round (in shape)”), from Latin rotundus (“round, circular; spherical”), related to rota (“wheel”).

der

(historical) A long thin medieval dagger with a circular guard and a circular pommel (hence the name).


Comecon

w:Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

(historical) Abbreviation of Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, a multinational economic organization that existed in the Eastern Bloc from 1949 to 1991.


long arm

the long arm of the law

(idiomatic) Influence; far-reaching power.


jambiya

Borrowed from Arabic جَنْبِيَّة (janbiyya).

bor+

An Arabian (especially Yemeni) dagger with a short curved blade that is worn on a belt.


jingal

/ˈd͡ʒɪnɡɔːl/

Borrowed from Hindi [script needed] (janjal).

(India) A type of gun, usually a light piece mounted on a swivel, sometimes taking the form of a heavy musket fired from a rest.


TEC

I strap out, step out in every direction / Glock, TECs, jimmy hats, in case I need protection

1993, “Just Another Day”, in Black Reign, performed by Queen Latifah:


Warsaw Pact

The Warsaw Pact formalized Moscow's dominance in Europe's east.

(historical) A pact (long-term alliance treaty) signed on May 14, 1955 in Warsaw by the Soviet Union and its Communist military allies in Europe.


estoc

From French estoc, see there for more. Compare Middle English touk (“a sword”) (whence obsolete English tuck (“rapier, sword”)), Middle English stok(e) (“blow with a sword”) (both probably from Old French estoc).

m+

A type of sword used from the 14th to the 17th century, characterized by a long, straight, edgeless, sharply pointed blade designed for penetrating mail or plate.


Excalibur

From Middle English Excalaber, from Old French Escalibor, Escaliborc, prothetic form of Calliborc, alteration of Calibourne, from Medieval Latin Caliburnus (Geoffrey of Monmouth, ca. 1136), influenced by calibs (“steel”) (for chalybs), alteration of Old Welsh Caledbulch (compare modern Caledfwlch), compound of caled (“hard”) and bwlch (“cleft, crack”). Related to the Irish legendary sword Caladbolg, literally ‘hard-belly’, i.e. ‘voracious’.

Until recently, suppression of ethnicity has perhaps been the leading characteristic of the trend of thought of these Jewish intellectuals. Some, like Noam Chomsky and I. F. Stone, have been considered by some Jews to be so suppressed—or at least so overcompensating for their being Jewish—as to be regarded as anti-Semitic on some issues. Such men flaunt their universalism like Excaliburs of truth and objectivity.

1974, Stephen D. Isaacs, Jews and American Politics, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 53:

And we would see fish swimming among the tall bulrushes that rose like Excaliburs out of the lake.

1998, Imogen Stubbs, “The Undiscovered Road: Northumberland”, in Dea Birkett, Sara Wheeler, editors, Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women’s New Travel Writing, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 228:

You and I, we are not alone, and our screwdrivers are our flashing Excaliburs as we sally forth to make small parts of the fragmented world whole again.

2017, James May, The Reassembler, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 19:

(Arthurian legend) The legendary sword of King Arthur, having magical properties.


superweapon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-superweapon.wav

We must be very careful how we pin our faith on this thing, assuming that It is successfully developed; we must be wary of the idea that a superweapon can give us a superpower in the world or relieve us of the hard obligations of intelligent policy and diplomacy, of consistency, integrity, and foresight on the basic plane of human relationships.

1873, United States Congress, Congressional Record, The Congress, page 761:

And this was what Prussianism aimed at with her supermen and superweapons: to place the whole world in fetters and enforce the doctrine that “ might is right.”

1918, Muriel Hine, The Best in Life, John Lane Company, page 216:

It was after the publication of 1984 that Orwell became, as Isaac Deutscher put it, an ideological "superweapon of the cold war."

1969 February 3, The Nation, J.H. Richards, page 150:


barebow

(archery) Unassisted, with just a bow and no additional aids such as sights.


artillerist

Pelham was, in spite of his youth, an artillerist of the first order of excellence, and his loss was a serious one, in spite of his inferior rank.

1876, John Esten Cooke, A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee:

The experiments were not very satisfactory. Mr. Coffin, perhaps, possibly, because he was not a skilled artillerist, had the mortifying experience of seeing the apparatus in front of his cannon blown into fragments, but he made notes of the other reports.

1898, William Elliot Griffis, Charles Carleton Coffin:

(military) A person who operates artillery.


hogleg

A plain-clothes man with his coat off and his hog's leg looking like a fire plug against his ribs took one eye off his evening paper […].

1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 228:

Well I been a-ridin' shotgun on the Houston-Dallas stage / I got me a sawed-off hogleg, twenty is the number gauge / I'd shoot anybody, that would try to stop this ride / A lot of outlaws tried it, a lot of outlaws died.

(US, slang) Any large-caliber handgun, typically with a long barrel.


Gorbachev

Transliteration of Russian Горбачёв (Gorbačóv), usually written Горбаче́в (Gorbačév) (see note about Russian letter ё (jo)), from горба́ч (gorbáč, “hunchback”).

transliteration

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Горбачёв Горбачёв#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Горбачёв (Gorbačóv).


badelaire

Borrowed from French badelaire, baudelaire, a corruption of earlier (14th century) baselard.

I heard the ring of steel on stone, as if someone had struck one of the grave markers with a badelaire.

1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter I, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 12:

(now chiefly historical) A short sword with a heavy, curved blade and S-shaped quillions.


pocket pistol

A semi-automatic handgun designed to be carried inconspicuously in a pocket of one's clothing.


bowshot

It is, however, interesting in connection with that fact to remember that the last bowshot in English warfare was fired during the Civil War.

1900, Edward Walford, John Charles Cox, George Latimer Apperson, The Antiquary, page 113:

(archery) The act of firing an arrow from a bow.


hammerless

(firearms) Without a visible hammer; said of a gun having a cock or striker concealed from sight, and out of the way of an accidental touch.


kopis

A short forward curved sword in Ancient Greece used primarily as a cutting tool, but also for combat.


muff pistol

A century earlier [than the 1870s], women in dangerous professions, such as tending bar or prostitution, carried a “lady's muff pistol.”

2006, Elisabeth Israels Perry and Jennifer Ann Price, expanatory note for An American girl, and her four years in a boys' college by Olive San Louie Anderson, page 203

(historical) A small flintlock or percussion gun, usually for women, which can be hidden in a muff (hand-warmer).


zamburak

From Hindi ज़ंबूरक (zambūrak) / Urdu زنبورک (zambūrak), from Classical Persian زنبورک (zanbūrak), from زنبور (zanbūr, “hornet”), from Arabic زُنْبُور (zunbūr, “hornet”).

Sadat Khan was drawn to an ambush about three to four miles east of the Mughal camp at a place known as Kunjpura where 3,000 Persian cavalry with a large number of zamburaks had prepared an ambush.

2011, Kaushik Roy, War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849:

A small cannon supported by a swiveled rest, especially as mounted on the back of a camel.


accurize

en-verb

accurize (third-person singular simple present accurizes, present participle accurizing, simple past and past participle accurized)

accurizes (present singular third-person)
accurizing (participle present)
accurized (participle past)
accurized (past)


atgeir

From Old Norse atgeirr or Icelandic atgeir.

See 'Social and Political Structure'. halberd atgeir: Atgeir is translated as 'halberd', which it seems to have resembled even though no specimens of this combination of spear and axe have been found in archaeological excavations in[…]

2004 September 30, Leifur Eiriksson, Egil's Saga, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

The Atgeir The Atgeir was a 'spearlike spear' that was used before and through the Viking Age. One reference to the atgeir comes from Icelandic Sagas about the Viking hero Gunnar Hámundarson whom used an atgeir in Njál's Saga that would “sing” by making a ringing sound when it anticipated 'bloodshed' when it was used in battle.

2015, Njord Kane, The Vikings: The Story of a People, Spangenhelm Publishing, →ISBN:

Beyond description from old records and sagas, there have not been any atgeirs discovered by archeologists to get a clear picture as to what one was beyond the assumption of it being a spearheaded type of polearm.

2019, Njord Kane, History of the Vikings and Norse Culture, Spangenhelm Publishing, →ISBN:

In Laxdaela saga one of the characters, twelve years old Hardbein Helgason, pierces with an atgeir a steel helmet on the head of his opponent (App. 19). Another reference to using an atgeir in a fight can be found in Landnámabók […] Gunnar lifted him on the atgeir and hurled into the river” (App. 21). This technique is described in the saga three times. The atgeir piercing through a shield and splitting it in two: “Gunnar threw the atgeir to him and hit the shield,[…]"

2019, Daniel Jaquet, Matyas Miskolczi, Acta Periodica Duellatorum (vol. 7, issue 1), →ISBN, pages 36–37:

A kind of spear-like polearm used by the Norse, conventionally translated as halberd, but of uncertain precise nature.


kujang

Borrowed from Indonesian kujang, derived from Sundanese ᮊᮥᮏᮀ (kujang), inherited from Old Sundanese kūjang.

A sword-like weapon that originates from the Sundanese region in West Java, Indonesia.


catapeltic

PIE word
 *ḱóm
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (katapeltikós, “of or for a catapult”) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (Katapeltikós) is derived from κᾰτᾰπέλτης (katapéltēs) + -ῐκός (-ikós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns); while κᾰτᾰπέλτης (katapéltēs) is a literary form of κᾰτᾰπᾰ́λτης (katapáltēs, “catapult; torture instrument”), from κᾰτᾰ- (kata-, prefix meaning ‘against’) + πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown; to brandish a weapon; (passive) to swing or dash oneself”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive; to push”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming masculine agent nouns).
The noun is derived from the adjective.

lbor

κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός

der

[T]he superior discipline and skill of the Romans were fully compensated by the strength of position and the catapeltic engines of the Macedonians.

1835, William Martin Leake, “Illyria, Epirus”, in Travels in Northern Greece. […], volume I, London: J. Rodwell, […], →OCLC, page 386:

[Dionysius, governor of the Cassandrian garrison of Munychia] held out valiantly for two days; but at length the superior forces of the enemy, and the mischief done by their catapeltic engines, drove the defenders from the walls, when Demetrius [of Phalerum] entered the fortress, Dionysius was taken, and his garrison laid down their arms: […]

1841, William Martin Leake, “Section IX. Of Maritime Athens, and Its Divisions, Peiræeus, Munychia, and Phalerum.—Their Harbours, Monuments, and Fortifications.”, in The Topography of Athens. With Some Remarks on Its Antiquities, 2nd edition, London: […] J. Rodwell, […], →OCLC, page 409:

The western or outer, which was the narrowest front of the fortress, consisted of four towers of solid regular masonry connected by walls of equal breadth, but lower than the towers, so that balistic or catapeltic engines might be mounted upon the walls between the towers, like cannon in embrasures.

1848 February 24 – March 23, William Martin Leake, “VII.—Topographical and Historical Notes on Syracuse.”, in Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, volume III (Second Series), London: John Murray, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 255:

Has not the pulpit, which was ordained to the exhibition of Christ crucified as the Healer of human woe, been made the arena of inflammatory debate, the platform of catapeltic controversy, destructive rather than conservative, more the instrument of the Furies than of the Graces?

1859, Baron Stow, “Considerations that Render Christian Union Desirable”, in Christian Brotherhood: A Letter to the Hon. Heman Lincoln, Boston, Mass.: Gould and Lincoln, […], →OCLC, pages 64–65:

It missed the other's jaw by two inches, that catapeltic blow—striking him full in the mouth, breaking his yellow teeth and smashing his thick lips so that the blood sprang out in a spray over his hairy chest, and as his head rocked backward David followed with a swift left-hander, and a second time missed the jaw with his right—but drenched his clenched fist in blood.

1918, James Oliver Curwood, chapter XXIV, in The Courage of Marge O’Doone, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co., […], →OCLC, page 263:

Today I will transform you into a catapeltic arrow, / and I'll send you spinning like a missile from a catapult.

2010, Michael Fontaine, “Equivocation and Other Ambiguities”, in Funny Words in Plautine Comedy, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 118:

(military, weaponry, archaic) Pertaining to a catapult or catapults.

catapeltique

pertaining to a catapult or catapults — see also catapultic


catapeltic

lbor

κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός

That artillery which afterward so much promoted the victories of the Roman armies, machinery for shooting darts and stones of size far beyond the strength of man's arm to throw, (Diodorus [Siculus] calls it the catapeltic) was now either invented, or first perfected, so as to be valuable for practice.

1808, William Mitford, “Affairs of the Sicilian and Italian Greek Cities, from the Establishment of the Syracusan Empire to the Death of Dionysius”, in The History of Greece, volume IV, London: […] Luke Hansard & Sons, […], for T[homas] Cadell and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, section I, page 69:

(military, weaponry, obsolete, rare) A catapult.


lombard

To oppose this , a wooden fortress of the same height was constructed by the assailants , and planted with lombards and other pieces of artillery then in use

1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell, →OCLC:

As the Pinta's lookout sighted land on the early morn of October 12, 1492, the firing of a lombard carried the news over the moonlit waters to the flagship Santa Maria.

1949, Albert Manucy, Artillery Through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America, USA: National Park Service:


sarissa

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σάρισσα (sárissa).

(Ancient Greece) A long pike used in the traditional Greek phalanx formation.


yager

There are fourscore of them; and but that each carries a yager rifle in his hand, a knife in his belt, and a Colt's pistol on his thigh, you could not discover the slightest point of resemblance between any two of them.

Many present identify it as the yager usually carried by Clancy.

We were each armed with a Mississippi yager and two Colt's revolvers.

1879, William F. Cody, The Life of Hon. William F. Cody:

(US, obsolete) A heavy, muzzle-loading hunting rifle


nonrecoil

(firearms, physics) Without recoil; recoilless.


RAS

rail accessory system
rail accessory system#English

(firearms) Abbreviation of rail accessory system.


deflex

(archery, of a bow) Having the arms curved or curled at the base so as to turn towards the archer when unstrung, reducing the strain on the limbs and also the energy stored by the weapon.


thermobaric

From thermo- + baric, derived from the Ancient Greek words for “heat” and “pressure”: θερμοβαρικός (thermobarikós), from θερμός (thermós, “hot”) + βάρος (báros, “weight, pressure”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”).


supergun

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supergun.wav

A very large cannon with an extremely high muzzle velocity and large bore.


intercontinental ballistic missile

en-noun

intercontinental ballistic missile (plural intercontinental ballistic missiles)

intercontinental ballistic missiles (plural)

From intercontinental + ballistic missile.

(military, astronautics) A class of long-range missiles associated especially with carrying nuclear warheads.

междуконтинентална балистична ракета

a class of long-range missiles associated especially with carrying nuclear warheads (ICBM)

大陸間弾道ミサイル

たいりくかんだんどうミサイル

межконтинента́льная баллисти́ческая раке́та


MPBR

(firearms) Initialism of maximum point blank range.


AHO

(Australia, firearms) Initialism of approved hunting organisation, an organisation of which membership is one of several possible prerequisites for a firearms license.


bident

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Latin bidentis (“two-toothed”).

The bident and helmet of invisibility are two objects associated with the Greek god Hades and his Roman counterpart Pluto.


Big Bertha

A heavy, long-range howitzer used by Germany in World War I.


coach gun

A double-barrelled shotgun with very short barrels.


(singular only, informal, firearms) The .303 British rifle calibre.

(countable) A rifle chambered in this calibre, normally the SMLE series.

(countable, music) The TB-303 synthesizer.


(often with "the") North Central Colorado, including Denver and Boulder, after the 303 area code.


spontoon

From Middle French sponton (also esponton), from Italian spontone, from spunta (“pike”).

"That the commissioned Officers shall severally be armed with a sword or hanger, and espontoon; and [...]"; Second Militia Act of 1792.


lever action

a type of firearm action which uses a lever located around the trigger guard area, to load fresh cartridges into the chamber when the lever is worked.


falling block

A single-shot firearm action in which a solid metal breechblock slides vertically in grooves cut into the breech of the rifle and actuated by a lever.


pump action

A type of firearm action that uses a sliding handgrip to cycle the mechanism.


cop-killer

Serpico spat the words out. "For killing a cop! He's a fucking cop-killer! Tell that to all his fucking friends up there."

1974, Peter Maas, “Chapter Thirteen”, in Serpico, Bantam edition, New York: Bantam Books, published 1973, →ISBN, page 225:

A person who deliberately kills an on-duty police officer.


neck down

en-verb

neck down (third-person singular simple present necks down, present participle necking down, simple past and past participle necked down)

necks down (present singular third-person)
necking down (participle present)
necked down (participle past)
necked down (past)

(firearms, transitive) To alter (a cartridge) by forcing it into a smaller calibre and size.


verdun

(historical) A 16th-century form of rapier.


cosh pocket

A hidden pocket in a man's suit for carrying and concealing a cosh.


bullpup

From bull + pup. The firearms sense originated from firearm designers in the United States during the 1930s. The unconventional configuration of bullpup rifles was compared by analogy to bulldog puppies, which were considered "squat, ugly, but still aggressive and powerful".

(firearms) A firearm configuration in which the trigger is located forward of the magazine and breech, as opposed to a conventional configuration in which the trigger is located rear of the magazine and breech.


belted magnum

A very large rifle cartridge that incorporates a strong ring of metal around its base for strength.


fireform

fireform (third-person singular simple present fireforms, present participle fireforming, simple past and past participle fireformed)

fireforms (present singular third-person)
fireforming (participle present)
fireformed (participle past)
fireformed (past)

To lengthen or widen the body of a cartridge case by firing it in a gun that has the same calibre but a larger chamber.


antinuker

(informal) One who is opposed to nuclear weapons.


antiatomic

(politics, military) Opposing or countering atomic weapons.


hang fire

(firearms) The situation when a gun does not immediately fire when the trigger is pulled, but may fire shortly after.


boar-spear

And still the foster with his long bore-speare / Him kept from landing at his wished will […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


saddle ring

(firearms) A small metal ring on the side of a firearm, allowing it to be hung on a saddle hook or attached to a lanyard.


firing pin

(firearms) the part of the firing mechanism which strikes the cartridge's primer to ignite the gunpowder.


Hanford

en-proper noun

Hanford (countable and uncountable, plural Hanfords)

From Welsh hen ("old") and ford ("a way"): the old way (Source: William Arthur 1857).

Cerro Gordo County
Cerro Gordo County#English

An unincorporated community in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.


Brezhnev

Borrowed from Russian Бре́жнев (Bréžnev).

Бре́жнев Брежнев#Russian

A transliteration of the Russian surname Бре́жнев (Bréžnev); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Leonid Brezhnev.


antiproliferation

Used attributively to describe the countering of proliferation (of nuclear weapons, cancer etc.)


soliferrum

From Latin soliferrum, from solus (“only”) + ferrum (“iron”).

An ancient Iberian heavy iron javelin. It was designed to be thrown a short distance of up to 30 meters.


wadcutter

(firearms) a special-purpose bullet designed for shooting paper targets, usually at close range and at subsonic velocities.


Nosler

The bullet is named after gunsmith John Nosler.

(firearms) A bullet having two lead-filled partitions separated by a copper or brass section, intended to retain hitting power after the initial expansion on impact.


wristguard

(firearms) A metal band between the stock and the receiver.


micronuke

A hypothetical nuclear weapon built on a very small scale.


broadaxe

A large axe, with a broad blade, once used as a weapon and also used for hewing timber.


sight in

en-verb

sight in (third-person singular simple present sights in, present participle sighting in, simple past and past participle sighted in)

sights in (present singular third-person)
sighting in (participle present)
sighted in (participle past)
sighted in (past)

(firearms) To align the sights of a firearm.


downwinder

A person (or community) that lives downwind from a potential hazard (such as a nuclear power station)


lathi

en-noun

lathi (countable and uncountable, plural lathis)

Lathi shares its basic principles with other martial arts.

(uncountable) A martial art based on stick fighting originally practiced in India.


SxS

SxS (plural SxS or SxSes or SxS's or SxSs)

SxS (plural)
SxSes (plural)
SxS's (plural)
SxSs (plural)

(firearms) Abbreviation of side by side (a double barrelled shotgun with both barrels beside each other, rather than over and under).


Mannlicher stock

Mannlicher stock (plural Mannlicher stocks)

* From a 1903 carbine designed by Ferdinand Mannlicher.

(firearms) A stock on a rifle that runs the full length of the weapon.


breechblock

(firearms) The metal block that closes the breech of a breech-loading gun after insertion of the cartridge.


warclub

Buried was the bloody hatchet, / Buried was the dreadful war-club, / Buried were all warlike weapons, / And the war-cry was forgotten.

1855 November 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Blessing the Corn-fields”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 175:

A club used as a weapon of war by various indigenous peoples.


ACP

(firearms) A class of handgun ammunition; Initialism of automatic Colt pistol.


odachi

Borrowed from Japanese 大太刀 (ōdachi, literally “large tachi”).

bor

A long Japanese sword built like the katana but longer (about 4 to 6 feet long), for combat on horseback.


running target

(firearms) A target that is towed across a range as the shooter shoots.


Roaring Meg

A large cannon; specifically, the large 15th cannon at Edinburgh Castle (more usually called ‘Mons Meg’), or the cannon used to defend [London]derry during the siege of 1688-9.


Kentucky rifle

(US, historical) A distinctive type of flintlock (later percussion cap) rifle used on the American frontier from 1700 to the 1850s.


flash-ball

From the trademark Flash-ball, from flash + ball.

French security forces fired tear gas and flash-balls after a march through picturesque central Paris went from peaceful to provocative.

2019 January 5, “France: Year’s 1st yellow vest event brings tear gas, fires”, in AP:


kyudo

Japanese 弓道 (kyūdō きゅうどう), from Middle Chinese 弓 (kjuwng "bow") + 道 (dáu "Way").


Vietnam War

The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

(historical) The war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1955 and 1975 between South Vietnam (backed by the United States and SEATO) and North Vietnam aiding the South Vietnamese communist guerrilla army known as the Vietcong (supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union) for the struggle for total Communist control of Vietnam as one state.


musketoon

From musket + -oon, after French mousqueton. Compare Italian moschettone.

(obsolete) One who is armed with such a musket.


toolie

Rise that heater, tap that mash
They don't come outside their flats
Decamp, decamp, aim this toolie at your hat
They piss us off on Snap, so we rise up and load them straps

2020 July 2, “Stop Check”, Td of TPL (lyrics):

(slang, US, MTE, MLE, and possibly wider) A gun.


hwacha

After lighting a common fuse, the hwacha fired as many as a hundred arrows, all of which landed in a precise spot.

2010, Myung Oak Kim, Sam Jaffe, The New Korea: An Inside Look at South Korea's Economic Rise, page 149:

This improvement allowed as many as one hundred sinkijons to be mounted on the hwacha, boosting the overall firepower and mobility of the rocket.

2004, George M. Siouris, Missile guidance and control systems, Springer, page 1:

(historical) A mid-16th-century Korean weapon that launched a barrage of rockets or arrows at enemies using gunpowder.


obturation

en-noun

obturation (countable and uncountable, plural obturations)

From Latin obturare (“to stop up”): compare French obturation.

(firearms) The process of a bullet expanding under pressure to fit the bore of the firearm, or a cartridge case expanding under pressure to seal the chamber.


tape out

en-verb

tape out (third-person singular simple present tapes out, present participle taping out, simple past and past participle taped out)

tapes out (present singular third-person)
taping out (participle present)
taped out (participle past)
taped out (past)

Tracks made of wooden slabs fastened together were the only roads by which men and pack-mules could cross this quagmire, and each of these ways became taped out by the enemy's artillery, and very perilous.

1918, Philip Gibbs, From Bapaume to Passchendaele, on the western front, 1917, G.H. Doran Co., page 25:

(weaponry) To measure out (a piece of land) so as to be able to accurately fire upon it.


Tiny Tim

(historical, military, countable) A United States rocket, used in World War II and the Korean War.


AShBM

anti-ship ballistic missile
anti-ship ballistic missile#English

(military) Initialism of anti-ship ballistic missile.


Yellow Boy

From the golden yellow colour of its receiver.

(firearms, informal) A Winchester Model 1866 lever action rifle.


mil-dot

(firearms) A type of firearm scope reticle using a thou dot as an aiming point and reference for range and holdover estimation.


Eastern Bloc

Coordinate term: Western Bloc

(geopolitics, historical) The largely Communist countries of the eastern world, usually Eastern Europe and especially in the Cold War era.

اَلْكُتْلَة الشَّرْقِيَّة

the communist countries of the eastern world


Brezhnev Doctrine

Named after Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.

named-after

A policy which stated that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in places where capitalism threatened communism.


atgar

Learned borrowing from Old English ætgār (“a short spear, dart, javelin, a kind of dart or other weapon to cast at the enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *atgaiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *atgaizaz; equivalent to at- + gar (“spear”). Cognate with Old Frisian etgēr, Old High German azgēr, azigēr, Icelandic atgeir (“spear”).

lbor

(Anglo-Saxon) A kind of spear or lance formerly in use.


caliver

That done, running out into the streets, with a crosse-bow in one hand, and a caliver [translating harquebouze] in the other, at two shoots, slew the two first Turks that came next to his gates[…].

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:


needle gun

(historical) A firearm that has a needle-like firing pin.

naaldgeweer

a firearm that has a needle-like firing pin


punt gun

Named after punt (“shallow boat”) on which the shotgun was typically fixed.

(chiefly historical) A very large shotgun used in the 19th and early 20th centuries for shooting large numbers of waterfowl for commercial harvesting operations and private sport.


hand axe

From Middle English hand-ax, handax, handex, hond axe, from Old English handæx, from Proto-Germanic *handakwisī; equivalent to hand + axe.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) A hatchet or throwing axe.


thunderstick

From thunder + stick. Originally used by or ascribed to members of non-European cultures or anthropomorphized animals describing firearms.

The man pointed his thunderstick at the buffalo, and with a great noise and fire, the buffalo fell down dead.

We sneaked into the soldiers' camp, and stole five thundersticks.

...the Men, when they hunt us with their arrows or a thunder-stick which strikes with a loud noise...

1904, W.A. Fraser, “The Narrative of Buffalo and Bison”, in Metropolitan, volume 20, number 11, pages 195–196:

Two men with beards... carrying thundersticks... were in the village above...

1931 He Dog, interviewed by Mari Sandoz (John Colhoff, interpreter), in The Beaver Men: Spearheads of Empire (University of Nebraska Press, 1964)

We have heard that they have magic thunder sticks; that all they need do is point the stick at a man and thunder and lightning comes out of it and the man dies.

1938, Mark Raymond Harrington, The Indians of New Jersey: Dickon among the Lenapes:

(Two bears discussing a rifle found lying on the ground): Thunderstick? ...You actually said 'Thunderstick?'... That, my friend, is a Winchester 30.06.

1985, Gary Larson, Bride of the Far Side:

...the captain of the vessel ordered a crew member to fire the thunderstick, as ancestors called the gun.
Word of bearded White men and their thundersticks was carried inland to other Indians.

2010, Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past:


varminter

A rifle designed or modified to increase accuracy so that it can be used for varmint shooting.

Accuracy folks (benchresters, varminters, etc.) lean decidedly towards the Remington. Its tubular design allows it to be chucked in a lathe and "hot-rodded" very easily.

1997 December 23, Marcus [username], “Re: New Pre '64 or 700 action?”, in rec.guns (Usenet):


explodium

(chiefly fiction) Any material that explodes extremely easily.


Mills bomb

Named after British inventor Sir William Mills (1856–1932).

named-after

They made a rush forward again, the dust and smoke clearing a little, and they heard the elastic twang of Mills bombs as they reached an empty trench, very narrow where shelling had not wrecked or levelled it.

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 10:

He said when he pulled the pin out of the Mills bomb, he was always afraid it would go off before he got it out of his hand.

1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 118:

Any of a series of British fragmentation hand grenades.


Strangelovian

en-adj

Strangelovian (comparative more Strangelovian, superlative most Strangelovian)

more Strangelovian (comparative)
most Strangelovian (superlative)

From Strangelove + -ian, referring to the title character in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a black comedy satirizing the nuclear weapons scare.

Paul C. Warnke, President Jimmy Carter's first director of ACDA, came to Reagan's defense by noting the Strangelovian affection of some armchair strategists for nuclear weaponry.

1987, “INF Agreement in Principle”, in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, volume 43, number 9, page 5:

How many hundreds of millions of dollars have been sunk into Strangelovian bunkers, how many tens of thousands of hours invested in preparing for that apocalyptic vision? Only a handful of senior doomsday officials may ever know...

1994, Mother Jones Magazine (volume 19, number 1, Jan-Feb 1994)

Just today, I read a Strangelovian story in the paper revealing that some of Russia's nuclear missiles, still aimed at the United States, have gone unattended because their guards were denied their bonus rations of four pounds of sausage a month.

2008, Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert's Four Star Reviews — 1967-2007, page 833:

Of or pertaining to nuclear apocalypse, especially through incompetence or shortsightedness.


SMG

Initialism of Standard Modern Greek (the contemporary language, taught in Greek schools since 1982).


baselard

From Old French baselard, basilard (early 14th century), in English from the later 14th century. Occurs in many spelling variants, including badelaire, baudelaire, Latinized badelare, bazelare, basalardus, balafardus, balasardus, etc.
Probably in origin a corruption of German Basler (as pasler also attested from the early 14th century), probably short for Basler messer "knife of (made in, typical of) Basel".

1380s: "Sir John and Sir Geoffrey hath a girdle of silver, a baselard or a ballok knyf with buttons overgilt." (Piers Plowman)

1519, “a hoked Baslarde is a perelse wepon with the Turkes.”, in Horman's Vulgaria:

A type of heavy dagger popular in the 14th and 15th centuries.


doomsday weapon

en-noun

doomsday weapon (plural doomsday weapons)


electromagnetic pulse

electromagnetic pulse (plural electromagnetic pulses)

electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic radiation

A short-duration burst of high-intensity electromagnetic radiation generated by a physical event, in particular by a large thermonuclear explosion in the atmosphere. The pulse causes a damaging surge of voltage within electrical and electronic systems.

電磁脈衝

Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of a nuclear event causing electric and magnetic fields to couple with electrical and electronic systems to produce damaging current surges.


claybeg

From Scottish Gaelic claidheamh beag (literally “small sword”). First attested in 1825 as Clay-beg.

bor

When Sir Walter Scott speaks, prior to 1715, of the inferiority of the claymore to the rapier, he refers not to the claybeg or Andrew Ferrara, now worn by the officers and sergeants of the Highland corps, and which has usurped the venerable name of the ancient Scottish weapon.

1835, letter to the editor of The United Service Magazine, page 109

(historical) The Scottish broadsword used during the Early Modern period.


nuclear magnetic pulse

en-noun

nuclear magnetic pulse (plural nuclear magnetic pulses)

electromagnetic pulse
electromagnetic pulse#English

An electromagnetic pulse caused by a nuclear explosion


double action

(firearms, primarily of revolvers) Requiring only a trigger pull to both cock and fire.


double action

(firearms) A trigger mechanism requiring a single pull to both cock and fire.


Maxim gun

After the inventor, Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916).

(firearms) A British machine gun of various calibres used by the British army from 1889 until World War II.

(firearms) A machine gun which derives after some manner from the patented gun mechanism of Sir Hiram Maxim

(firearms, informal, obsolete) A machine gun


splasher

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-splasher.wav

Juice man up with this 15 inch
Like, now I got blood on my splasher

2020 August 13, Blacz (lyrics and music), “TwentyTwo”, 1:21–1:26:

(MLE, slang) A knife (for it does wettings).


tertiate

en-verb

tertiate (third-person singular simple present tertiates, present participle tertiating, simple past and past participle tertiated)

tertiates (present singular third-person)
tertiating (participle present)
tertiated (participle past)
tertiated (past)

Borrowed from Latin tertiāt-, the perfect passive participial stem of Latin tertiō, from tertius (“third”).

(firearms) To examine, as the thickness of the metal at the muzzle of a gun; or, in general, to examine the thickness of, as ordnance, in order to ascertain its strength.


domino theory

An allusion to a row of dominoes in which the fall of one leads to a cascade of falling pieces.

(politics, historical) Synonym of domino effect


supercritical mass

en-noun

supercritical mass (plural supercritical masses)

(physics) A mass of fissile material that is more than sufficient to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.


subcritical mass

subcritical mass (plural subcritical masses)

(physics) A mass of fissile material that is insufficient to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.

alikriittinen massa

insufficient mass to sustain chain reaction


backstrap

(firearms) The rearmost surface applied to the grip especially of a pistol below a possible beavertail.


xbow

It might actually be more profitable for a master bowyer to make and sell heavy xbows now (instead of bows)... unless this was just some weird one-time deal.

1998, Dundee, “Heavy xbows for 80 gold?!”, in rec.games.computer.ultima.online (Usenet):


blaze away

en-verb

blaze away (third-person singular simple present blazes away, present participle blazing away, simple past and past participle blazed away)

blazes away (present singular third-person)
blazing away (participle present)
blazed away (participle past)
blazed away (past)

Scott, somewhat stunned and now worried that everybody might have opened fire at the U.S. destroyers (he presumably missed Laffey and Farenholt merrily blazing away with their own guns into the darkness), ordered all firing to cease after a couple of minutes.

2020 December 9, Drachinifel, 20:18 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(firearms, intransitive, idiomatic) To fire (firearms) repeatedly.


SPRG

(firearms, with regard to the 30'06 cartridge) Abbreviation of Springfield Armory.


radioflash

en-noun

radioflash (usually uncountable, plural radioflashes)

electromagnetic pulse
electromagnetic pulse


push dagger

A short bladed dagger with a handle (often T-shaped) designed to be grasped in the hand with the blade protruding out from between the fingers.


Lucerne hammer

Named after the town of Lucerne, in Switzerland, where it originated.

A type of poleaxe with a modified hammerhead and a sharp angled spike on its opposite side, mounted on a long pike.


brandistock

A short polearm that has three retractable blades concealed in its handle, which are sprung upon a thrusting action forming a three-pronged spear.


spetum

From Italian spedo (“a spit”). Doublet of spit.

(historical) A medieval long spear with two sharp tapering blades projecting forward at roughly around 45 degrees with the blunt side facing the opponent.


holy water sprinkler

holy water sprinkler (plural holy water sprinklers)

(weapon): From its resemblance to the aspergillum.

(historical) A 16th-century spiked mace similar to a morning star, used mainly in England as a weapon.


guandao

From Mandarin 关刀 (guāndāo, “Guan Yu's halberd”).

bor

A Chinese polearm with the blade mounted on top of the pole (as opposed to on the side like most European polearms).


angon

From Byzantine Greek ἄγγων (ángōn, “prong, hook”); ultimately of Gothic *𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰 (*agga, “prong, hook”) and that from Proto-Germanic *angô (“hook; barb; angle”).

der

(historical) A type of javelin with a barbed tip, used by the Franks and the various Germanic tribes in the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.


bec de corbin

Borrowed from Old French bec de corbin (literally “crow's beak”).

bor

(weaponry, historical) A poleaxe with a modified hammerhead and a spike mounted on the top of the pole.


shamshir

From Persian شمشیر (šamšir, “sword”). Doublet of scimitar.

A Persian curved blade without a pommel.


man catcher

A type of polearm used in 18th century Europe that consists of a long pole and a two-pronged circular head for snaring the enemy around the neck.


shotel

An Abyssinian curved blade similar to the scimitar.


katara

Borrowed from Hindustani کَٹَار (kaṭār) / कटार (kaṭār, “dagger, saber”).

An Indian push dagger with an H-shaped handle, used predominantly ceremonially, and rarely as a weapon.


nukeable

en-adj

nukeable (comparative more nukeable, superlative most nukeable)

more nukeable (comparative)
most nukeable (superlative)


Krupp gun

Formerly manufactured by Friedrich Krupp, at Essen in Prussia.

(historical) A kind of breech-loading steel cannon.


Peacemaker

Peacemaker on his hip

An early type of American revolver, particularly the Colt 1873 Single Action Army model.


B-NICE

(emergency medicine) Initialism of biological, nuclear / radiological, incendiary, chemical, and explosive agents, used to remember the types of hazmat emergencies.


CBRN

weapons of mass destruction
weapon of mass destruction

(military, US, emergency medicine) Initialism of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, used to remember the four types of weapons of mass destruction.


smallsword

A light one-handed sword, designed for thrusting, which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier of the late Renaissance.


Quaker gun

An allusion to the pacifism associated with practitioners of the Quaker religion.

"At all events, your honour, I will carry the quaker in," said Joyce, tossing the stuffed figure on a shoulder. "He do to man the quaker gun at least, and may be of use in frightening some one of the other side."

1843, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 21, in Wyandotte:

The Quaker gun found there was consigned to the flames to-day, and in its stead heavy artillery, of the genuine sort, commands all the surrounding country.

1861 October 4, “The Great Rebellion”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-10-30:

(chiefly US, idiomatic, military, weaponry) A nonfunctional imitation of a gun or of a piece of artillery, typically made of wood and usually intended to deceive enemy forces into overestimating one's available firepower.


jereed

en-noun

jereed (countable and uncountable, plural jereeds)

From Ottoman Turkish جرید (cirid) (Turkish cirit), from Arabic جَرِيد (jarīd).

The spur hath lanced his courser's sides— / Away—away—for life he rides— / Swift as the hurled on high jerreed, / Springs to the touch his startled steed, [...]

1813, Lord Byron, The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale, 8th edition, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 12, lines 249–252:

(countable) A blunt javelin used by the people of the Levant, especially in mock fights.

(uncountable) A traditional Turkish equestrian team sport played outdoors on horseback in which the objective is to score points by throwing a blunt wooden javelin at opposing team's horsemen.


vireton

An arrow or bolt for a crossbow having feathers or brass placed at an angle with the shaft to make it spin in flight.


(firearms) The Mauser model 98, or a firearm action based on this design.


straight pull

(firearms) Alternative spelling of straight-pull


Chicago typewriter

Chicago typewriter (plural Chicago typewriters)

From its use by Chicago's underworld in the Prohibition Era, and likening the rattling sound of gunfire to that of a typewriter.

As the .45 cartridge is used in many weapons, Ballistics test-fired it in all — three different models of the Thompson sub-machine gun, the “Chicago typewriter” of gang warfare; the Reising sub-machine gun used by the marine Corps; the new and exciting M-3 sub-machine gun; the Colt .45 automatic pistol […]

1946, Wesley Winans Stout, Bullets by the Billion, page 68:

Few arrests were made and the city was alive to the sound of screeching tyres, the chatter of the Chicago typewriter or Tommy gun (which was invented just too late for the First World War but just in time for Capone & Co) and the music of the speakeasies and juke joints.

2010 July 23, Neil Norman, “The man who really caught Capone”, in Express:

The Russian soldiers carried Czech-made Skoda Tommy guns reminiscent of the well-known Thompson Chicago typewriter, made famous by the FBI and gang warfare during the Depression years.

2012, Edward M. Arnett, A Different Kind of War Story, page 105:

Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun#English

(slang) Synonym of Thompson submachine gun.


recapper

(firearms) A tool that applies a fresh percussion cap or primer to a cartridge shell in reloading it.


kunai

From Tok Pisin kunai (“grass, grassland”), from Tolai kunəi (“long grass”).

Imperata cylindrica
Imperata cylindrica#Translingual

A species of grass, Imperata cylindrica, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Australasia, Africa, and southern Europe, and widely introduced to the New World.


chunker

Onomatopoeic, or from chunk (“throw”), with -er.

(US military, slang) An M79 grenade launcher.


wolf hook

From wolf + hook, called so because the original tool was used in the hunting of wolves.

(by extension) A kind of modern-day assault rifle handle in a similar shape.


fire in anger

en-verb

fire in anger (third-person singular simple present fires in anger, present participle firing in anger, simple past and past participle fired in anger)

fires in anger (present singular third-person)
firing in anger (participle present)
fired in anger (participle past)
fired in anger (past)

The Napier of Magdala Battery never fired a shot in anger: it never engaged in combat.

(military, idiomatic) To fire a weapon with the intent of causing damage or harm to an opponent (as opposed to a warning shot or a practice shot).


ascham

Named after Roger Ascham, who was a great lover of archery.

(archaic) A cupboard or case for storing bows and other archery equipment.


schiavona

From Italian. So named because the sword was popular among the Schiavoni (“Slavs”), Istrian and Dalmatian Slavs who formed the bodyguard of the Doge of Venice.

A type of sword with a basket-shaped guard, popular during the 16th and 17th centuries.


sputcheon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-sputcheon.wav

Schlussblech, […] The sputcheon of the mouth-piece; inner part of the mouth-piece, which retains the lining of metal-scabbards.

1848, Geo[rge] F[loyd] Duckett, Technological Military Dictionary, German–English–French, new edition, London: Parker, Furnival, and Parker, […], →OCLC, page 319, column 1:

[…] [batte] de la cuvette, sputcheon of the mouth-piece of a sword-scabbard, or that part which retains the wooden scabbard (fût).

1852, [Robert] Burn, “Batte”, in A Naval and Military Technical Dictionary of the French Language. […], 2nd edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 37, column 2:

Mouth pieces and sputcheons will no longer be supplied separately, but mouth pieces with the sputcheon strongly attached will be furnished.

1871 July 1, “Army Circulars. 1871.”, in The Army List, for July, 1871, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, clause 109 (Repairs to Cavalry Sword Scabbards), paragraph 3, page 367:

It may be interesting to enumerate the number of operations required for the making of a new British cavalry sword, independently of the production of the steel. They are as follows: / The manufacture of the blade, 32 operations; scabbard, 30; scabbard mouthpiece with sputcheon, 32; […]

1886 June 3, “Swords and Sword Making at Solingen, Germany. (Concluded.)”, in Merrick Cowles, John W. Weston, editors, The American Engineer. An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume XI, number 22, Chicago, Ill.: Cowles & Weston, […], →OCLC, page 223, column 2:

The scabbard is of steel, and is fitted with an iron sputcheon with brass mouthpiece, braced on and fixed in scabbard with screws. […] The lining consists of two strips of wood held in position by the sputcheon.

1906 July 27, “[Appendix V.] Swords and Scabbards.”, in Dress Regulations for the Officers of the Canadian Militia. Militia Department, Ottawa: […] S. E. Dawson, […], published 1907, →OCLC, section 1 (Field Marshals and General Officers), page 71:

She held her mouth slitted open in anguish so that in Inman's mind it resembled the sputcheon to a sword scabbard.

1997, Charles Frazier, “A Vow to Bear”, in Cold Mountain, New York, N.Y.: Atlantic Monthly Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 273:

(chiefly historical) The metal lining of a scabbard's mouth.


neck up

neck up (third-person singular simple present necks up, present participle necking up, simple past and past participle necked up)

necks up (present singular third-person)
necking up (participle present)
necked up (participle past)
necked up (past)

(firearms) to increase the size of a cartridge's chamber and calibre.


Texas heart shot

en-noun

Texas heart shot (plural Texas heart shots)

(hunting, firearms) A bullet fired through the anal area of an animal.


rendrock

(US, dated) A kind of dynamite used in blasting.


demilance

Someone who carried a demilance; a demilancer.


Whitworth gun

Invented by Sir Joseph Whitworth of Manchester, England.

THE WHITWORTH GUN. — Mr. Whitworth, of Manchester, has succeeded in constructing several rifled breech-loading cannon of various calibres: his 3-pounder gun, 208 lbs. in weight, with a calibre of 1½ inches, a charge of 8 oz. of powder,[…]

1863, Henry Lee Scott, Military Dictionary:

A form of rifled cannon and small arms. The bore has a polygonal section, and the twist is rapid. The ball, which is pointed in front, is made to fit the bore accurately, and is very much elongated, its length being about three-and-a-half times its diameter.


gavelock

From Middle English gavelock, from Old English gafeluc (“spear, javelin”), from gafol (“fork”) + -uc (diminutive suffix). Compare Old Norse gaflak, Icelandic gaflok, Old French gavelot, glavelot, French javelot, Irish gabhal (“fork”), Welsh gaflach (“fork, dart”). More at gaff, gaffle and javelin.


boomstick

From boom (“a log; explosion sound”) + stick.

(slang) Any shotgun, especially a sawed-off version.


skean

Inherited from Middle English skene, from Middle Irish scian, from Old Irish scían, from Proto-Celtic *skiyenā.

(historical) A double-edged, leaf-shaped, typically bronze dagger formerly used in Ireland and Scotland.


birdbolt

A short blunt arrow for killing birds without piercing them.


overbow

en-verb

overbow (third-person singular simple present overbows, present participle overbowing, simple past and past participle overbowed)

overbows (present singular third-person)
overbowing (participle present)
overbowed (participle past)
overbowed (past)

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈbəʊ/

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌbəʊ/

Another characteristic of an "overbowed" archer can readily be observed by watching the alignment of his back while he is shooting.

1963, Arnold Otto Haugen, Harland G. Metcalf, Field Archery and Bowhunting, page 12:

I know you've heard it before, but no advice on bow selection or shooting would be complete without saying it: Don't “overbow” yourself! Start with a light- to moderate-weight bow and work up if you feel the need to be shooting something heavier.

2016, Ron Rohrbaugh Jr, A Traditional Bowhunter's Path, page 23:

I don't want to overbow a customer because if I do, they're going to get turned off to traditional archery.

2007, Dan Bertalan, The Traditional Bowyers Encyclopedia:

Don't be tempted to overbow yourself — to use limbs that are too heavy for you.

2023, Ben Hastings, The Intermediate Archer:

(archery, transitive) To provide (an archer) with a bow that requires more strength than the archer can fully draw.

The tendency of all archers is to overbow.

1940, Ye Sylvan Archer - Volumes 12-15, page 4:

The most important rule for anyone thinking of making a bow is not to overbow or underbow. The bow at full draw should be just at the limit of the shooter's strength.

2011, Erik Roth, With a Bended Bow: Archery in Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe:

(archery, intransitive) To use a bow that requires more strength than the archer can fully draw.


demiculverin

It made such a thunderous noise that anyone would have sworn blind they were great siege guns or demi-culverins [translating halbe Carthaunen].

1999, Mike Mitchell, translating HJC von Grimmelshausen, Simplicissimus, III.10, Dedalus 2016, p. 230

(now historical) A medium cannon, slightly larger than a saker and smaller than a culverin.


demicannon

en-noun

demicannon (plural demicannons or demicannon)

demicannons (plural)
demicannon (plural)

What's this? A sleeve? 'Tis like a demi-cannon.

c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

A medium-sized cannon, slightly larger than a culverin and smaller than a standard cannon.


gun carriage

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

A metal or wooden frame on which a piece of ordnance is mounted for firing or transportation.

كُرْسِيّ

metal frame on which a piece of ordnance is mounted for firing or transportation


START

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
w:Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

(law) Acronym of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.


khakkhara

Borrowed from Sanskrit खक्खर (khakkhara, “beggar’s staff”).

bor+

(religion) a monk's staff used especially by a Buddhist mendicant as a tool for begging or as a weapon


recurve bow

(weaponry) A bow whose two tips curve away from the archer when drawn, which gives the shot greater power and speed.


compound bow

a modern bow that uses pulleys and cables to help with the drawing and releasing of the bowstring


doglock

(firearms, historical) The lock that preceded the true flintlock in both rifles and pistols in the 17th century.


slamfire

(firearms) The premature accidental discharge of a firearm while a round is being loaded into the chamber.


sporterize

en-verb

sporterize (third-person singular simple present sporterizes, present participle sporterizing, simple past and past participle sporterized)

sporterizes (present singular third-person)
sporterizing (participle present)
sporterized (participle past)
sporterized (past)

(transitive, firearms) To modify (a firearm) so that it is suitable for sporting use.


underlug

(firearms) One of the locking lugs on a break-action firearm that extend from the bottom of the barrels under the chamber(s) and connect into the receiver bottom.

(firearms) The metal shroud underneath the barrel of a revolver that surrounds and protects the extractor rod.


pinfire

(firearms) An obsolete kind of brass cartridge in which the priming compound is ignited by striking a small pin which protrudes radially from just above the base of the cartridge.


keyholing

(firearms) The tendency of a bullet fired down an excessively large barrel to wobble in flight and leave a keyhole-shaped puncture in the target.


Picatinny rail

Named after the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.

(firearms) A bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform.


speedloader

Various speedloaders had different colours. You could also hear the data being loaded (1200baud iirc) and some programs had very interesting 'tunes' in them, and it was also possible to work out where you were in the load of your favourite games by the sound.

2002, John Bland, “Thumb Bandits.”, in comp.sys.acorn.misc (Usenet):

(firearms, computing) Alternative form of speed loader


substrategic

(military, nuclear weapons) At a lesser level than full strategic nuclear warfare.


arcubalist

A Legionary Soldier appears on an ancient Seal endeavouring to bend the Arcubalist with his foot; but Dr. Meyrick does not think this sufficient to prove that it was the Stirrup Cross-bow […]

1825, Thomas Dudley Fosbroke, Encyclopædia of Antiquities:


prestrategic

(military, nuclear weapons) Before the onset of full strategic nuclear warfare.


morglay

carrying Their morglays in their hands

1612–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Honest Mans Fortune”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):


arquebusade

en-noun

arquebusade (countable and uncountable, plural arquebusades)

From French arquebusade (“shot of an arquebus”); eau d'arquebusade, a vulnerary for gunshot wounds.

bor

The AQUA VULNERATA, arquebusade water, is prepared from numerous aromatics[…]

1809, Bartholomew Parr, The London Medical Dictionary:

A distilled water from a variety of aromatic plants, such as rosemary, millefoil, etc., originally used as a vulnerary in gunshot wounds.


frizel

To this succeeded the Snaplance ^([sic]), in which a motion was given to the dog, or cock, and a movable plate of steel, called the frizel, or hammer, was placed vertically above the pan to receive the action of the flint.

1832, The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, volume 10, page 164:

(firearms, historical) A movable furrowed piece of steel struck by the flint, to throw sparks into the pan, in an early form of flintlock.


snaphance

Dutch snaphaan (“a gun”), originally, the snapping cock of a gun. See snap and hen.

A spring lock for discharging a firearm.


switchy

Yeah, this shit gettin wicked now
Hit his ass with the switchy now
My net worth 'bout a ticket now
I ain't never put my glizzy down

2023 September 18, “It’s Nothing / Spiritual Outro” (track 15, 0:20 from the start), in Summrs (lyrics), What We Didn’t Have:

(slang, African-American Vernacular) A Glock switch.


the Bomb

Alternative form of the bomb (as in a nuclear bomb)


columbiad

(military, historical) A form of cannon from the 19th century, mostly used for seacoast protection. It is a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon designed for launching shot or shells with heavy charges of powder, at both high and low angles of elevation.


Exocet

From French Exocet, from exocet (“flying fish”).

(military, nautical) A French antiship missile.


N-bomb

The synthetic hallucinogen 25I-NBOMe, used as a recreational drug.


cranequin

A device used to arm a crossbow by cranking a gear.


stonebow

O, for a stone-bow, to hit him in the eye!

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:

(historical) A kind of crossbow used for shooting stones.


potgun

twelve pot-guns of brass

1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:

(obsolete) A pot-shaped cannon; a mortar.


seven-shooter

(colloquial, dated) A revolver which holds seven cartridges.


main-gauche

(historical) A relatively large dagger, especially popular in the 17th century. It was held in the left hand (the non-dominant hand), while the rapier was held in the right. It was mainly used to parry thrusts of the adversary's rapier.


morris-pike

Make this for a general rule, all long staves, Morris pikes, Forest bills, Javelins, or such like long weapons, of what sort soever, being above the true lengths, the shortest has the advantage, because they can cross and uncross in shorter time than can the longer.

1599, George Silver, Paradoxes of Defense:

[…]do more exploits with his mace than a morris-pike.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

(obsolete) A long pike at the time believed to have been of Moorish origin.


express rifle

First applied to hunting rifles and ammunition beginning in the mid 19th century, to indicate a rifle or ammunition capable of higher than typical velocities.

Any of various rifles that propel the bullet at high velocity to maximize point-blank range.


martel de fer

In addition to the sword and spear , the warrior occasionally wielded the martel-de-fer , a weapon combining a hammer and pick , and which did great execution among the armed knights , in breaking or dragging off the rings of the hauberk

1846, Frederick William Fairholt, Costume in England: History:

A weapon resembling a hammer, often having one side of the head pointed, used by horsemen in the Middle Ages to break armour.


snap cap

1187. B. Lilly. Improvements in the construction of "snap caps" or "nipple protectors" for firearms. Dated May 12, 1863.

1863 December 18, The Mechanics' Magazine, page 889:

Snap caps are dummies (no powder, no primer, no projectile) shaped like the ammunition for a particular gun. They're supposed to provide something for the firing pin to hit during dryfiring, so the gun's lockwork doesn't have to absorb this impact. It's a fine idea, but not all snap caps are made right.

2012, Silvio Calabi, The Gun Book for Boys:

However, it does no harm (and may prevent damage) to use snap caps - dummy rounds which are inserted into the chamber to soften the impact of the firing pin.

2014, MAssad Ayoob, Gun Safety in the Home, page 124:

(firearms) A dummy round of ammunition used to check ammo feed and other mechanical problems.


cronel

The follovving deſcription of the coronels or coronets, is given by [John] Guillim in his diſplay of heraldry.

1786, Francis Grose, “The Sling”, in A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, footnote x, page 47:

The metal head of a tilting spear or lance, which could be blunt or consist of many small points (to grip armor), designed not to penetrate or wound.


xiphos

en-noun

xiphos (plural xiphoses or xiphoi or xiphe)

xiphoses (plural)
xiphoi (plural)
xiphe (plural)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ξίφος (xíphos). Doublet of seif.

(historical) A double-edged, single-handed sword, typically used by Ancient Greek hoplites as a secondary weapon after the dory (thrusting spear) or javelin.


decommunization

The act, process, or result of decommunizing.


abelite

* Named after Sir Frederick Abel, English chemist.
* Abel + -ite

(organic chemistry) An explosive consisting of ammonium nitrate with hydrocarbons added.

abelita

explosive consisting of ammonium nitrate and hydrocarbons


A-bomber

From A-bomb + -er. (atomic bomber / atom bomber).

An aircraft capable of delivering an atomic bomb as a weapon.


JSP

(firearms) Initialism of jacketed soft point (bullet), a type of lead bullet with a partial metal jacket, where the tip leaves the core exposed without jacketing.


flatbow

(archery) a bow with non-recurved, flat, relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section.


composite bow

(archery) a bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together.


squailer

They [the boys] all had catapults and squailers […]. In summer they used to go fishing and bird-nesting.

1962 [1939], George Orwell, Coming Up for Air, London: Victor Gollancz, page 56 (in Penguin edition):

A weighted stick used to throw, usually at small animals.


escopet

From Spanish escopeta, French escopette.


plitt

Not a few of these carry with them the germ of inevitable death, their frames being enfeebled, and their constitutions broken by having undergone the cruel sentence of the plitt.

1846, Charles Frederick Henningsen, Revelations of Russia in 1846:

(historical) An instrument of punishment resembling the knout, formerly used in Russia.


ADM

agency debit memo
agency debit memo#English

(travel) Initialism of agency debit memo.


dog

dog (countable and uncountable, plural dogs)

Australian Kriol: dog

Bislama: dog

Gullah: dog

Sranan Tongo: dagu

Tok Pisin: dok

Torres Strait Creole: dog

desc

→ American Sign Language: Kop@Inside-PalmForward 1o@Inside

→ Dutch: dog

→ Esperanto: dogo

Ido: dogo

→ French: dogue

→ German: Dogge

→ Italian: dogo

→ English: dogo

→ Portuguese: dogue

→ Russian: дог (dog)

→ Spanish: dogo

→ Volapük: dog, doeg

Inherited from Middle English dogge (akin to Scots dug), from Old English dogga, docga, of uncertain origin.
The original meaning seems to have been a common dog, as opposed to a well-bred one, or something like 'cur', and perhaps later came to be used for stocky dogs. Possibly a pet-form diminutive with suffix -ga (compare frocga (“frog”), *picga (“pig”)), appended to a base *dog-, *doc- of unclear origin and meaning. One possibility is Old English dox (“dark, swarthy”) (compare frocga from frox). Another proposal is that it derives from Proto-West Germanic *dugan (“to be suitable”), the origin of Old English dugan (“to be good, worthy, useful”), English dow, Dutch deugen, German taugen. The theory goes that it could have been an epithet for dogs, commonly used by children, meaning "good/useful animal". Another is that it is related to *docce (“stock, muscle”), from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā (“round mass, ball, muscle, doll”), whence English dock (“stumpy tail”).
In 14th-century England, hound (from Old English hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting. In the 16th century, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.
Despite similarities in forms and meaning, not related to Mbabaram dog.

hond

morally reprehensible person — see also scoundrel

it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog

on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

(firearms, archaic) A cock, as of a gun.


personal defense weapon

en-noun

personal defense weapon (plural personal defense weapons)

(weaponry) A compact fully-automatic or semi-automatic firearm similar to a submachine gun but firing a rifle round.


shooting glasses

(firearms) A type of impact-resistant eyewear worn by shooters to prevent injury due to a cartridge or gun malfunction blowing hot gas or metal particles into the shooter's face.


kindjal

Borrowed from Russian кинжал (kinžal). Doublet of khanjar.

A kind of short sword or dagger used in Russia.


throwing axe

(weaponry) An axe that is used as a missile weapon.


forend

(firearms) Part of a rifle, underneath the barrel, where it is supported by the hand.


organ gun

/ˌɔːɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

/ˌɔɹɡ(ə)n ˈɡʌn/

From organ + gun. The multiple barrels of the device were thought to resemble the pipes of a pipe organ.

The attempts to re-invest the artillery with its one-time superiority were directed in two channels: one aimed at perfecting shrapnel, which had been rather neglected up to this time (England, Prussia, Austria), while the other resurrected the mediaeval idea of the "barrel-organ gun," with a view of assembling a number of rifle barrels and of combining thereby the accuracy of the small arm with the moral effect of canister.

1911, William Balck, “VI. Machine Guns”, in Tactics, Volume 1: Introduction and Formal Tactics of Infantry, page 259:

(firearms, historical) A large, portable firearm normally supported by wheels, in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession; it was chiefly used from the 14th to the 17th century.

Bellifortis
Giuseppe Marco Fieschi
Konrad Keyser
Louis Philippe I
Musée des Archives Nationales

арга́н

portable firearm in which bullets may be fired from a row of several tubes in succession


stun grenade

From stun + grenade, from its stunning effect.


flash grenade

From flash + grenade. From the bright flash generated by this type of hand-throwable man-portable explosive device.


gunbelt

A belt incorporating a holster for a gun.


field gun

An artillery piece, originally a smaller gun that could accompany a field army on the march and when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances.


long Tom

What he would do afterwards — whether he would try to crawl right across the island from North Inlet to the camp among the swamps or whether he would fire Long Tom, trusting that his own comrades might come first to help him — was, of course, more than I could say.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

(historical) Any of various early cannon and field guns.

Digging around second-hand shops you may come across an old newspaper or picture agency 'Long Tom' lens.

1976, David Hodgson, All about action photography, page 43:

One of the last 'Long Toms' produced for Fleet Street, it was used by a Daily Mirror photographer on Coronation Day, 2 June 1953.

1983, The Photographic Collector, volumes 4-5, page 87:

(photography) A high-powered lens for long-distance filming or photography.

(mining) A device formerly used in California for washing gold from the earth or mineral spoil with which it is excavated. It is a sloping wooden trough which widens at the lower end.


hoplologist

There was, however, one notorious weapon that he had not got, and that he, or any hoplologist the world over, would give half his collection to possess.

1952 November, Maurice Walsh, “The Hoplologist”, in Chambers's Journal:

Hoplologists classify these systems according to the weapon/principle/agent used: bladed, stick/staff, projectile, composite and auxiliary systems.

1978, Play, Anthropological Perspectives, Leisure Press, page 72:

Instead of focusing on the sword's interaction with defensive armor and the military culture that trained soldiers in the art of swordsmanship, curators and hoplologists alike endlessly emphasize the evolution of the hilt and the blade or the sword's role in courtly fashion as parade and dress accessories.

2008, Nick Jamilla, Sword Fighting in the Star Wars Universe: Historical Origins, Style and Philosophy, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 117:

Someone who is an expert in weapons and armour (especially military uses or knowledge thereof).


hoplology

Some students of hoplology, the science of l'arme blanche (the sword), in the neighbourhood of my residence have entreated me to invoke the invaluable aid of 'N. & Q.' in matters of archæology to endeavour to trace the missing weapons.

1891 March 7, anonymous author, “Wandsworth: The Sword House”, in Notes and Queries:

It has often been a public misconception that the words "martial arts" refer to something exclusively Asian in nature. But history and hoplology (the science of weaponry and related combative systems) tell us that no race on the face of the earth has ever lacked for fighting techniques, […]

1987 September, Paul Nurse, “Pankration: The Bloody, Brutal Art of Ancient Greece”, in Black Belt:

In his seminal work that made him the doyen of modern hoplology, Sir Richard Burton traces the spread of various arms and armaments of the world to ancient Egypt.

2008, T. J. Desch Obi, Fighting for Honor: The History of African Martial Arts in the Atlantic World, University of South Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 61:

The study of the methods, behaviour, and technology involved in human combat, particularly weapons and armour.


(firearms, informal) The .22 Long Rifle calibre.

(firearms, informal) A firearm chambered in that calibre.


zamboorak

A light swivelling gun, traditionally mounted on, and fired from, the back of a camel


Lewis gun

(historical) A light machine gun adopted by Belgium and the UK before World War I and widely used.


bromobenzyl cyanide

(organic chemistry) A lachrymatory agent (aka tear gas) introduced in World War I.


Peabody action

Named after the inventor, Henry O. Peabody of Boston, Massachusetts.

(firearms, historical) An early form of breechloading firearm action, where the heavy breechblock tilted downwards across a bolt mounted in the rear of the breechblock, operated by a lever under the rifle.


prodd

(historical or obsolete) A kind of crossbow used to shoot pebbles or pellets


smoke grenade

A bomb that generates thick smoke when it explodes; used especially to produce a smokescreen.


sparth

From Middle English sparthe, from Old Norse sparða.

Sparthe an inſtrument.

1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 66; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:

[…]betweene whom was a cruell fight, the one part giuing a fierce onſet with ſtones and ſpaths^([sic]), & the other defending themſelues with bowes and weapons.

1587, Raphaell Holinshed, Iohn Hooker, “The Second Book of the Conqueſt of Ireland”, in The firſt and ſecond volumes of Chronicles […] , volume II, London: Henry Denham, page 33:

[…]how that the Englſshmen not being able to ſtand in fight, turned backe to backe, with ſparthes and two handed swords, untill the laſt man was ſlaine.

1633, Edmund Campion, Meredith Hamner, Tvvo Histories of Ireland […] , Dublin: Society of Stationers, archived from the original on 2021-06-09, page 66:


Bamboo Curtain

After iron curtain, the original Cold War “curtain” (in Europe). First used in Time magazine in 1949.

Gen. Wego Chiang, commander-in-chief of the Combined Service Forces, called on leaders of the free world to design an effective global strategy to safeguard world peace and to rescue the enslaved people behind the Bamboo Curtain.

1982 November 7, “ROC to aid joint security”, in Free China Weekly, volume XXIII, number 44, Taipei, page 1:

“A new bamboo curtain may be coming down on Southeast Asia,” he worried. This would not be a hard-and-fast wall like the Iron Curtain; nor would it be part of some newly imagined Asian domino theory.

2008 September, Robert D. Kaplan, “Lifting the Bamboo Curtain”, in The Atlantic:

As it had been for other Western reporters getting their first look behind the Bamboo Curtain, it was all a marvel for Payne. After all, here was a country that less than a quarter of a century ago had been destitute after three decades of revolutionary warfare.

2015, James McGrath Morris, Eye on the Struggle, Amistad, →ISBN, page 321:

(historical) The political and ideological barrier between the communist and capitalist states of Asia during the Cold War.

Бамбукавая заслона

political barrier between communist and capitalist in Asia

ബാംബൂ കർട്ടൻ

bāmbū kaṟṭṭaṉ


Bell shot

After Walter "Karamojo" Bell, a Scottish big game hunter.

(hunting, firearms) A shot at an animal's head taken diagonally from behind.


paper hunting

(firearms, informal, sometimes derogatory) target shooting


SALT

(politics) Acronym of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.


Broomhandle Mauser

Broomhandle Mauser (plural Broomhandle Mausers)

(firearms, informal) The Mauser C96 pistol.


rocket propelled grenade

rocket propelled grenade (plural rocket propelled grenades)

rocket-propelled grenade
rocket-propelled grenade#English

Alternative form of rocket-propelled grenade


gun sock

(firearms) A long tubular cloth covering, sealed at one end, used to provide basic protection for a firearm.


saddle carbine

(firearms) a short carbine intended for use on horseback, typically with a very short barrel and a saddle ring.


bore sight

(firearms) An optical device, mounted on or near the end of a firearm's barrel, used to align the sights with the bore.

(firearms) A dummy cartridge containing a small battery-operated laser, used to align the sights.


bore sight

en-verb

bore sight (third-person singular simple present bore sights, present participle bore sighting, simple past and past participle bore sighted)

bore sights (present singular third-person)
bore sighting (participle present)
bore sighted (participle past)
bore sighted (past)

(firearms) To align the sights and aiming point of a firearm using a bore sight optical tool.


flash bang

A flash bang contains no explosive, and the container is not designed to fragment.

2003, Dennis Krebs, When Violence Erupts: A Survival Guide for Emergency Responders, page 153:

In January of 2005 in Niagara Falls, New York, an 18-year-old woman who was not the intended arrest target suffered second and third degree burns as a result of the use of a flash bang during the service of a high-risk warrant.

2007, Frank A. Colaprete, editor, Internal Investigations: A Practitioner's Approach, page 180:

I have a flash bang with a timer set for 60 seconds.

2008, James Devries, Deep Cover, page 151:


vest buster

Yet, according to data published by the company, the gun press, and the federal government, it appears that the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum is plainly capable of defeating the highest level of police body armor worn in all but SWAT-type situations. It is a vest buster.

2004, Violence Policy Center, Vest Buster: The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum—The Gun Industry’s Latest Challenge to Law Enforcement Body Armor:

Joby nodded, “I'll wait,” and offered his support—two live rounds of 9mm Black Talon ammunition. “Vest busters,” in case the cops harassed him.

2008, Kerrie Droban, Running with the Devil: The True Story of the ATF's Infiltration of the Hells Angels, page 121:

for, among other things, improving regulations to combat “straw purchases,” better regulating how weapons that are particularly attractive to criminal groups (such as “vest-buster” […]

2011, Clare Ribando Seelke, “Merida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: Funding and Policy Issues”, in Current Politics and Economics of the United States, Canada and Mexico, volume 13, number 4:

A related design and marketing innovation has been the sale to civilians of “vest busters,” handguns specifically designed to penetrate body armor.

2013, Tom Diaz, The Last Gun: How Changes in the Gun Industry are Killing Americans and what it Will Take to Stop it, page 166:

After the vest-buster big boomers came out and appeared on the scene in Seattle, Jax bought the forty-four.

2016, Melanie Thompson, The Virgin Shifter:

(firearms) A handgun or cartridge that can fully penetrate a contemporary bulletproof vest.


throwing stick

"What could his sling, his throwing-stick, or his arrow avail him against such forces as have been loose to-night? Even with a modern rifle it would be all odds on the monster."

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

On another occasion, Bungaree gave a spear and throwing stick to local people and showed them how to use them at Pumicestone River.

2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 176:

A wooden tool used to throw a dart, spear or other missile; a spear thrower; (Australia) a woomera.


kusarigama

A Japanese martial arts chain weapon that consists of a kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle), on a length of kusari (metal chain) with a heavy fundo (iron weight) at the end; a chain sickle.


naginata

From Japanese 薙刀 (naginata, literally “mowing hatchet”).

bor

A traditional Japanese halberd: a polearm historically used to cut down infantry and cavalry.


slugthrower

He had been pulling the trigger of his slugthrower all this time, but now the firing pin clicked at last upon an empty firing chamber.

1965 December, Gordon R. Dickson, “Warrior”, in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, volume 76, →ISSN, page 71:

Each had a holstered sidearm: slugthrower, not stunner.

1978, Poul Anderson, The Avatar, New York: Berkley, →ISBN, →OL, page 162:

From the confident manner with which she held her long-barreled slugthrower, Mirina guessed that some of the medals were for marksmanship.

1996, Jody Lynn Nye, The Ship Errant, Baen, →ISBN, →OL, page 65:

(science fiction) A firearm that fires bullets.


bat'leth

From Klingon betleH, short for batlh'etlh (“sword of honor”).

It is a bat'leth. It belonged to my father... It has been in our family for ten generations.

1990 November 5, “Reunion”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4, episode 7, spoken by Worf (Michael Dorn):

The U.K. is looking to clean up its streets with a knife amnesty program, so you can imagine their surprise when a Klingon, er, excuse me, a Klingon fan, turned in a replica Bat’leth over the weekend.

2008 August 25, Jack Loftus, “U.K. Knife Amnesty Program Turns Up Klingon Bat’leth, No Sign of Worf”, in Gizmodo Australia, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

Officers searched the area but didn't find the robber or the weapon, which was described as a "bat'leth."

2009 February 4, Kieran Nicholson, “Klingon sword used in two Colorado Springs heists”, in Denver Post:

Howard: Why did you bring that?
Sheldon: No weapon strikes more fear into a man's heart than a Klingon bat'leth.
Leonard: OK, let's get clear on something. We just gonna tell this guy to transfer all your stuff back into your account and then be on our way. No one's bat'lething anybody.

2011 March 31, “The Zarnecki Incursion” (15:59), in The Big Bang Theory, season 4, episode 19, spoken by Howard Wolowitz, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter (Simon Helberg, Jim Parsons, and Johnny Galecki):

(science fiction) A double-ended curved blade weapon with spiked protrusions, controlled by grips along its back, used by Klingons in Star Trek.


halfcock

This was bad both for the alibi reshoots it caused and subsequent delays in a match, but if the hammer fell to halfcock enough times, the half-cock notch would mar the sear tip, adversely affecting trigger pull.

2010, Patrick Sweeney, 1911 The First 100 Years: The First 100 Years:

(firearms) The position when the cock of a gun is at the first notch.


halfcock

en-verb

halfcock (third-person singular simple present halfcocks, present participle halfcocking, simple past and past participle halfcocked)

halfcocks (present singular third-person)
halfcocking (participle present)
halfcocked (participle past)
halfcocked (past)

(firearms) To set the cock of a firearm at the first notch.


nuclear warfare

The use of nuclear weapons as weapons of war.


Purex

Shortening of plutonium uranium extraction.

A chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons, based on liquid–liquid extraction ion-exchange.


staff sling

A weapon consisting of a short sling at the end of a staff.


cestrosphendone

From Ancient Greek κεστροσφενδόνη (kestrosphendónē) via Latin cestrosphendone.

der

κεστροσφενδόνη

(Ancient Greece) An Ancient Greek sling used to fling darts.


siege tower

(historical) A siege weapon, consisting of a wheeled wooden tower with ladders inside, which was parked next to walls so assailants could safely scale them.


Very pistol

Named after Edward Wilson Very, a 19th-century US naval officer.

A single-shot breech-loading snub-nosed flare gun.


pernach

Ukrainian перна́ч (pernáč), пірна́ч (pirnáč).

A type of flanged mace from medieval Kievan Rus'.


carthoun

Borrowed from German Kartaune, from Italian quartana (“25-pounder cannon”).

There too went Master Wolff Danner […] and by his side, Böheim, the master of the gun-founders who made their burnished, beautifully ornamented gun-barrels, cannon, primitive guns and carthouns famous through the whole world.

1960, Gottfried Keller, translated by AM Holt, Green Henry, Calder Publications, published 2010, page 437:


infernal machine

en-noun

infernal machine (plural infernal machines)

The Prince of Orange likewise had recourse to the destructive effects of an infernal machine, in order to bombard Havre-de-Grace, and to set it on fire.

1810, Charles James, “Machines, Infernal”, in A New and Enlarged Military Dictionary, in French and English, 3rd edition, volume I, London: T. Egerton:

The vessel against which the infernal machine had been moored had been blown to atoms.

1871, William Stephens Hayward, “LIII : The Explosion”, in The Fiery Cross, a Tale of the Great American War, London: Charles H. Clarke, page 345:

(dated) A bespoke machine comprising a large bomb and an unmanned vessel or carriage carrying it to a target


South Vietnam

China is so large, looms so high just beyond the frontiers, that if South Vietnam went, it would not only give them an improved geographic position for the guerrilla assault on Malaya but would also give the impression that the wave of the future in Southeast Asia was China and the Communists. So I believe it.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, quoting John F. Kennedy, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 61:

(historical) A state, officially the Republic of Vietnam, that governed southern Vietnam from 1955–1975.


Neptune powder

An explosive containing nitroglycerine, used in blasting.


fowling piece

"Dear Grandfather———" his lordship began with a very grave face, and was certainly on the point of making a confession, but his servant, entering with a variety of fowling-pieces, sent for his choice from my lord, together with a shot-bag, jacket, &c.;...

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 266:

What could I do? My useless fowling-piece was in my hand. What help could I get from that? I looked desperately round for some rock or tree[.]

A light gun with smooth bore, adapted for the use of small shot in killing birds or small animals.


CEP

The Circular Error Probable (CEPs) of SLBMs and SLCMs ought thus to be deliberately kept above the 'Hard Target Kill' (HTK) level.

1989, Marlies ter Borg-Neervoort, Wim Smit, Non-provocative Defence as a Principle of Arms Reduction:

(ballistics) An initialism of three synonymous phrases, namely:

circular error probable
w:circular error probable


mountain gun

There were troops on this road and motor trucks and mules with mountain guns and as we went down, keeping to the side, I could see the river far down below […]

1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 50:

A gun or cannon specially adapted for use in mountainous terrain.


trench mortar

The medical captain, ‘What hit you?’ Me, with the eyes shut, ‘A trench-mortar shell.’

1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, Folio Society, published 2008, page 64:

A small mortar designed to fire shells from one trench to an enemy trench.


Enfield

From Old English Ēana (given name) or ēan (“lamb”) + feld (“field”).

A town in Hartford County, Connecticut; named for the town in England.

Penobscot County
Penobscot County#English

A locale in the United States.
A town in Penobscot County, Maine.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A town, village, and census-designated place in Grafton County, New Hampshire; named for the town in Connecticut.

A locale in the United States.
A town in Tompkins County, New York.


nukespeak

From nuke + -speak, coined by linguist Paul Chilton.

A form of misleading language used to present nuclear weapons in a positive light.


poacher's gun

(firearms) A small-bore shotgun hidden in a walking cane.


draw weight

The enormous draw weight of the English longbow required archers to train from a very young age to be capable of using it.

She figured her bow had only a forty-pound draw weight, but it was enough.

2021, Rivers Solomon, Sorrowland, #Merky Books, page 27:

(archery) The force (weight) required to draw a bow to its fully-cocked position.


Bay of Pigs

A small inlet on the southern side of Cuba, site of a famous failed invasion in 1961.


selective fire

(firearms) The ability to choose whether a weapon fires automatically or semi-automatically.


shotshell

shotshell (countable and uncountable, plural shotshells)

(uncountable) Handgun and rifle cartridges loaded with lead shot canisters instead of bullets, intended for pest control.


backbore

en-verb

backbore (third-person singular simple present backbores, present participle backboring, simple past and past participle backbored)

backbores (present singular third-person)
backboring (participle present)
backbored (participle past)
backbored (past)

(firearms, transitive) To modify (a weapon's barrel) so as to increase the bore diameter.


tumi

The tumis are characterized by a metal handle, which can be bent at the free end or may have an ornament in the form of a button or a zoomorphic head; they also have a curved, sharp blade edge, forming a semicircle or half-moon.[…]The archaeological associations of the tumis found in Argentina indicate that these objects all had an Inca origin.

1979, Alberto Rex González, “Pre-Columbian Metallurgy in Northwest Argentina: Historical Development and Cultural Process”, in Elizabeth P. Benson, editor, Pre-Columbian Metallurgy of South America, Conference Proceedings, page 177:

For instance, he makes sure that the reader is aware that the weapons taken by the Inca army, tumis, are ritual weapons used for the ritual hunt and slaughter of llamas.

2002, Thomas B. F. Cummins, Toasts with the Inca: Andean Abstraction and Colonial Images on Quero Vessels, page 18:

Decorated tumis such as this one may have been used for ceremonial purposes, although their utilization on more mundane occasions should not be ruled out.

2004, Richard L. Burger, Lucy C. Salazar, “Catalogue”, in Richard L. Burger, Lucy C. Salazar, editors, Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, page 193:

(archaeology) A ceremonial axe used by some Incan and pre-Incan cultures of South America.


forestock

karera

part of a firearm under and supporting the barrel


foregrip

(firearms) A pistol grip-type forestock on the front of a firearm that improves handling characteristics, counters the effects of recoil, and is cooler to the touch than a standard forestock.


Baratol

An explosive made from TNT and barium nitrate.


rebounding lock

en-noun

rebounding lock (plural rebounding locks)

(firearms) A lock in which the hammer rebounds to half cock after striking the cap or primer.


Congreve rocket

Congreve rocket (plural Congreve rockets)

After its inventor, Sir William Congreve.


chain sickle

A Japanese weapon evolved from the sickle; the kusarigama.


Armstrong gun

An early type of wrought iron breechloading cannon where the breech is sealed by screwing the rear breech face tightly against the rear end of the barrel.


MANPADS

man-portable air-defense system
w:man-portable air-defense system

Acronym of man-portable air-defense system: a handheld anti-aircraft missile.


Welsh glaive

there shall not come the twang of a Welsh bow, nor the glimmer of a Welsh glaive within a fair league of its battlements!

1838, James Gregor Grant, Rufus, Or, The Red King: A Romance:

A weapon of war used in former times by the Welsh, commonly regarded as a kind of poleaxe.


gunloon

From gun + loon (“crazy or deranged person”).

Of course, to a gunloon, freedom is _defined_ by gun ownership.

1996 July 1, rafe b., “Re: Rpt on San Jose City Council Mtg 6/18 PM”, in talk.politics.libertarian (Usenet):

Allowing pilots to carry guns is so insane and stupid that only a gunloon would support it.

2003 September 20, Siva, “Re: Pilot to passengers - I'm armed & drunk”, in alt.politics (Usenet):

The problem is that these NRA gunloons don't believe that they also have the *duty* to own them *responsibly.*

2010 December 3, Fred, “Re: Thrill Killer -- NRA buttfuck rightards on National Geographic”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

(US, slang, derogatory) A person obsessed with owning guns; a zealous supporter of the right to bear arms.


lady paramount

lady paramount (plural ladies paramount)

(archery) The lady who achieves the best score in archery.


powder burn

To anxious throngs who crowded into Mexico City's Palacio Nacional this week, bland President Manuel Avila Camacho displayed a two-inch swath burned in the jacket of his grey-and-red striped suit, a similar powder burn in his white shirt beneath. The burns were over his heart. A jiu jitsu trick and somewhat erratic marksmanship were all that had saved the President.

1944 April 17, “Mexico: At the Palacio Nacional”, in Time, retrieved 2014-05-13:

Most had head wounds and powder burns, indicating that they had been shot at close range.

1983 June 4, Lydia Chavez, “Salvador Photos Indicate Massacre”, in New York Times, retrieved 2014-05-13:

Tom Chaney is a depraved man who kills for no good reason. . . . Chaney has a powder burn on his face.

2013 Oct. 8, grumpynerd, "Writer's Book Report: TRUE GRIT," Daily Kos (retrieved 13 May 2014)

A burn, ordinarily superficial and on someone's skin, resulting from proximity to an explosion of gunpowder, such as that associated with the discharge of a firearm.


star gauge

A long rod, with adjustable points projecting radially at its end, for measuring the size of different parts of the bore of a gun.


stub twist

(firearms) Material for a gun barrel, made of a spirally welded ribbon of steel and stub iron combined.