modern pentathlon

modern pentathlon (usually uncountable, plural modern pentathlons)

Dwindling interest and a reputation for being outdated couldn’t change modern pentathlon. A brief video clip of a coach punching a horse at the Tokyo Olympics has altered it forever.

2021 March 11, Victor Mather, “Modern Pentathlon Drops Equestrian Competition After Abuse Claims”, in The New York Times:

An athletics event where athletes compete in épée fencing, shooting, freestyle swimming, show jumping and cross country.


West Berlin

(historical, Germany) The American, British and French sectors of Berlin between 1949 and 1990.


West Germany

From informal use describing the British-, French-, and American-occupied zones of Germany following World War II, under influence from existing German Westdeutschland and Westdeutscher used to describe those areas of German-speaking Europe since the 17th and 18th centuries.

(since 1990) The former areas of the Republic during that time, distinguished from the former East German areas.


criticality

en-noun

criticality (countable and uncountable, plural criticalities)


holdover

holdover (countable and uncountable, plural holdovers)

This rangefinder not only measures the distance to the target, but also provides a digital readout of the inches of holdover at that distance.

(firearms) The distance (at target) by which a rifle scope is aimed higher than the intended point of impact in order to compensate for bullet drop over the distance to the target.


headspace

headspace (countable and uncountable, plural headspaces)

en:gap inside firearm action, bolt face to cartridge stop

(firearms) The gap between the face of the bolt and the stopping surface for the cartridge.


headspace

en-verb

headspace (third-person singular simple present headspaces, present participle headspacing, simple past and past participle headspaced)

headspaces (present singular third-person)
headspacing (participle present)
headspaced (participle past)
headspaced (past)


space weapon

Any weapon that travels through space to a target either in space, in the atmosphere or on the ground


cannoneer

Luckily, the cannoneer was only mildly injured when his cannon malfunctioned.

Just as the Spring came laughing through the strife,
With all its gorgeous cheer;
In the bright April of historic life,
Fell the great cannoneer.

1908, James Ryder Randall, “Pelham”, in Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems, Baltimore, Md., New York: John Murphy Company, page 20:

(military) A person who tends and operates a piece of artillery, especially a cannon.

kanonýr

person who operates a piece of artillery, especially a cannon


chape

From Middle English chape, from Old French chape (“a churchman's cope, a cover, a chape”), from Latin cappa, itself derived from Latin caput. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *káput- and Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cap, cape, and cope.

der

[…] the swords nevertheless do not lack the chape, the small leather piece that overlaps the crossguard in a semi-circle over the base of the blade and that is often referred to as a rain guard.

2018 July 30, Dierk Hagedorn, Bartlomiej Walczak, Medieval Armoured Combat: The 1450 Fencing Manuscript from New Haven, Casemate Publishers, →ISBN:

Alternative form of chappe (“rainguard”) (piece fitted to a sword's crossguard).


deprime

en-verb

deprime (third-person singular simple present deprimes, present participle depriming, simple past and past participle deprimed)

deprimes (present singular third-person)
depriming (participle present)
deprimed (participle past)
deprimed (past)

(firearms) to remove the (remnant) primer from a cartridge casing (from the brass).


initiator

(chemistry) A substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization.

käynnistäjä

chemistry: substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization

‘This, er, initiator of polonium and lithium, would it be used in an anti-personnel bomb?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes, you could say so, boyo,’ replied the Welshman. ‘An initiator, you see, is what sets off a nuke.’

1984, Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 301:

(military) A component of a nuclear weapon that produces a burst of neutrons to trigger a fission chain reaction.

(computing) A task (in a mainframe computer) that initiates multiple jobs.


chronograph

chronograph (third-person singular simple present chronographs, present participle chronographing, simple past and past participle chronographed)

chronographs (present singular third-person)
chronographing (participle present)
chronographed (participle past)
chronographed (past)

/ˈkɹɒnəɡɹɑːf/

/ˈkɹɑnəˌɡɹæf/

From Ancient Greek χρονογράφος (khronográphos, “chronicler”). Equivalent to chrono- + -graph.

uder

(firearms) To make an accurate measurement of the speed of a projectile.


arblast

From Old French arbaleste (modern French arbalète), from Late Latin arcuballista, from Latin arcus (“bow”).

“[…] Here be two arblasts, comrade, with windlaces and quarrells—to the barbican with you, and see you drive each bolt through a Saxon brain.”

1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XIV, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 281:

(historical) A wooden crossbow with a special drawing mechanism, used to fire bolts, stones, etc.


brown-bill

From brown + bill; see bill (“polearm”).

Let the Kanne of ſtrong ale [be] your conſtable, with the toaſte his browne bill, and ſugar and nutmegs his watchmen ſtand in a readineſſe, to entertaine mee euerie time I come by your lodging.

1599, [Thomas] Nashe, “[The Epistle Dedicatorie]”, in Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC:

The tramp of horses was now heard, and the Lady Rowena appeared, surrounded by several riders, and a much stronger party of footmen, who joyfully shook their pikes and clashed their brown-bills for joy of her freedom.

(historical) A type of halberd used by medieval foot-soldiers and constables, painted brown to prevent rust.


Greek fire

“There is yet spirit in him,” said Malvoisin apart to Mont–Fitchet, “were it well directed — but, like the Greek fire, it burns whatever approaches it.”

(historical) A highly flammable substance of unknown composition first used by the Greeks of Constantinople in the 7th century C.E. to set fire to enemy ships, buildings etc.


pom-pom

onom

Imitative

(military) A rapid-firing small-calibre cannon used especially as an anti-aircraft gun.

автоматично зенитно оръдие

(military) rapid-firing small-calibre cannon


Empty Quiver

(US, euphemistic, military) The seizure, theft, or loss of a nuclear weapon.


artilleryman

(military) A soldier enlisted in an artillery unit or who uses artillery.


wildcatter

Audio (US)

Roy Weatherby began his career in the firearms industry as a “wildcatter”, developing his revolutionary ideas about rifle cartridge performance and design.

a. 2005, “Ammunition”, in Weatherby, archived from the original on 2005-02-15:

(firearms) A person who makes wildcat cartridges and the guns that use them.


blaster

The "blaster" type of club has been blamed for doing its share in making golf courses look ridiculous, […]

1948, Henry Cotton, This Game of Golf, page 119:

The person who has a sand wedge - the blaster - for these shots has a distinct advantage.

1962, Gary Player, Golf Secrets, page 61:


Khrushchev

From Russian Хрущёв (Xruščóv), usually written Хрущев (Xruščev) (see note about Russian letter ё (jo)).

A built-in remedy for Khrushchev and Kennedy.

1974, Freddie Mercury, “Killer Queen”, in Sheer Heart Attack:

Хрущёв Хрущёв#Russian

English transliteration of the Russian surname Хрущёв (Xruščóv); usually refers to the Russian revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Nikita Khrushchev.


cockspur

en-noun

cockspur (countable and uncountable, plural cockspurs)

From Middle English cokkispore, equivalent to cock + spur.

(uncountable) Orchard grass, a widely grown tall stout hay and pasture grass (Dactylis glomerata) of Eurasia.


brisant

The use of gun-cotton proper (trinitrocellulose) could not be thought of, owing to the brisant action of this body, but it was found that collodion-wool (dinitrocellulose, soluble gun-cotton), which was less brisant, could be converted into a nearly homogeneous mass which satisfied many of the requirements of a smoke-free powder, but it was still so brisant when used alone as to produce too high gas pressures and too irregular initial velocities.

1893, Charles E. Munroe, Notes on the Literature of Explosives, No. XXIII: Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, Volume 18, page 123:

1959, Mitchel H. Bertram, William V. Feller, Memorandum 5-24-59L: A Simple Method for Determining Heat Transfer, Skin Friction, and Boundary-Layer Thickness for Hypersonic Laminar Boundary-Layer Flows in a Pressure Gradient, NASA, 5,
At the start of the run a shattering or "brisant" detonation occurred in the line between the oxidant control valve (number 5, fig. 2(a)) and the oxidant tank. […] The propellant tank showed evidence of high internal pressure but no brisant detonation.

Two charges should be used: a cratering charge, and a small charge of a brisant explosive.

1962, NAVWEPS OP [Ordnance Pamphlet] 2212: Demolition Materials, Bureau of Naval Weapons, pages 6–12:

It is highly brisant with a VoD of 7300 ms-1 at a charge density of approximately 1.5 g cm-3.

2016, Materials Analysis in Forensic Science:

(of an explosion or explosive) Having a shattering effect.


nuclear deterrent

nuclear deterrent (plural nuclear deterrents)

The arsenal of nuclear weapons of a nation viewed as a deterrent to an enemy from attacking.

核威懾

Nuclear weapons viewed as a deterrent to an enemy from attacking


40 mike-mike

From Mike (“the letter M in the ICAO spelling alphabet”).

(US Army and Marines, military, slang) Any weapon firing a 40mm grenade. Often specifically the M203 grenade launcher, mounted underneath an M-16 or variant. In the Marine Corps, often the Mark-19 Automatic 40mm Grenade Launcher.


mutual assured destruction

mutual assured destruction (uncountable)

(politics, public policy, military) The threat of massive retaliation using nuclear weapons should a potential enemy use them first, both sides being annihilated in the event of war.


death ray

(science fiction) A beam of radiation that can kill.


ray gun

Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe / Put your ray gun to my head

1972, “Moonage Daydream”, in The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, performed by David Bowie:

(science fiction, weaponry) A weapon that shoots harmful rays.


antinuclear

en-adj

antinuclear (comparative more antinuclear, superlative most antinuclear)

more antinuclear (comparative)
most antinuclear (superlative)

1995, "As antinuclear sentiment became popular, politicians such as Govs. Hugh L. Carey and Mario M. Cuomo jumped on the bandwagon and helped delay and defeat the opening. All the while the interest costs grew at astronomical rates." --New York Times, Oct 15, 1995, Antinuclear Role in High Electric Costs:

Opposed to the production or use of nuclear weapons, or opposed to the generation of electricity from nuclear power.

antiatòmic

opposed to the use of nuclear weapons or nuclear energy


destalinization

The process, begun by Nikita Khrushchev, of discrediting and then reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin.

destalinizasiya

process of discrediting and the reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin


supercritical

supercritical (comparative more supercritical, superlative most supercritical)

more supercritical (comparative)
most supercritical (superlative)

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

(physics) Of a substance or system above a critical threshold or range

(physics, of a fissile material) Having a mass sufficient to sustain an accelerating fission chain reaction.


bladelet

(archaeology) A small stone blade with one sharp and one blunt edge


radiological weapon

en-noun

radiological weapon (plural radiological weapons)

A weapon, often a bomb, designed to achieve injury or contamination of a target by dispersing harmful radioisotopes.

放射性武器

bomb that injures or contaminates through radioisotopes


biological weapon

biological weapon (plural biological weapons)

A biological pathogen or toxin designed or used for warfare.

生物兵器 (seibutsu heiki, literally “biological weapon”)


atom bomb

Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping / It's the end of all humanity / No more time for last-minute shopping / It's time to face your final destiny

1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:


stovepipe

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

From stove + pipe. The firearms sense is due to the trapped cartridge case resembling a stovepipe of the stove sense.

(firearms) A type of malfunction affecting breechloading firearms, where a spent cartridge casing fails to eject completely, instead becoming stuck in the firearm's ejection port, usually oriented vertically or nearly so.


stovepipe

en-verb

stovepipe (third-person singular simple present stovepipes, present participle stovepiping, simple past and past participle stovepiped)

stovepipes (present singular third-person)
stovepiping (participle present)
stovepiped (participle past)
stovepiped (past)

(intransitive, firearms) Of a cartridge case, to become wedged vertically in the ejection port of a breechloading firearm, rather than ejecting completely from the weapon.


mail bomb

An explosive device sent through the post; a letter bomb or parcel bomb.


switchblade

A folding knife with a blade which opens automatically (under spring pressure) when a button is pressed.


tige

Borrowed from French tige (“stem”), from Latin tibia (“shin bone, leg”). Doublet of tibia.

(firearms, historical) A steel pin in early rifles.


Panzerschrek

Misspelled from German Panzerschreck, which was a nickname of the anti-tank weapon officially known as Raketenpanzerbüchse 54.

a portable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by the Germans during WW2


spatha

From Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “any broad blade, of wood or metal”). Doublet of spade, spathe, and epee.

der

A type of straight sword originating from the 1st-century Roman Empire. It was worn typically by cavalry officers and is a long version of the left shaped gladius.


thermonuclear weapon

en-noun

thermonuclear weapon (plural thermonuclear weapons)

A weapon whose power is derived from nuclear fusion at high temperature


nitroglycerin

nitroglycerin (usually uncountable, plural nitroglycerins)


black powder

A simple form of gunpowder, consisting of a mixture of saltpetre, charcoal, and sulfur.


nuclear power

nuclear power (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear powers)

(countable) A nation that possesses nuclear weapons.


atomic weapon

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:


radiological

Of or pertaining to radiation, radioactivity or nuclear weapons.


sniper rifle

A long-range rifle, usually equipped with a telescopic sight and often a night vision device.


Korean War

Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Democratic People's Republic of Korea

(historical) A war fought in the Korean Peninsula from 1950–1953 between the Soviet Union-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United Nations-backed Republic of Korea.


suppressor

A device which suppresses something, especially an electronic or mechanical device.

A device added to the barrel of a firearm which reduces the noise and flash generated by firing the weapon.

A person who suppresses others, a tyrant.

(genetics) A gene that suppresses the effect of another through epistasis.


shillelagh

From Irish sail éille (“shillelagh”, literally “cudgel of a thong”), altered to match the name of the village of Shillelagh (from Irish Síol Éalaigh (literally “descendants of Éalach”), because the forest near it provided wood from which such clubs could be made.

der

Any cudgel, whether or not of Irish origin.


grease gun

(colloquial, due to its appearance) A small machine gun, particularly the .45 calibre M3 used by the US in WW2.


baseball bat

Beat on the brat / Beat on the brat with a baseball bat / Oh yeah...

A long instrument, typically wood, metal, or plastic, which is swung to strike baseballs.

baseballová pálka

device which is swung to try to make contact with baseballs


six-gun

Robbin' people with a six-gun / I fought the law and the law won

1958, “I Fought the Law”, Sonny Curtis (music):


botty

There once was a soft luscious botty,
That was spanked very hard and a lotty.
Until one day,
In the month of May,
It was black and blue and looked grotty.

2010, Zorba Tocks, The Taming of the Twins and a Selection of Illustrated Limericks:


botty

Bye bye, botty.

(informal, rare, computing) A term of address for a bot (automated software process).


botty

en-adj

botty (comparative more botty, superlative most botty)

more botty (comparative)
most botty (superlative)

That email seemed pretty botty; it probably shouldn't be trusted.

(informal, rare, computing) Resembling a bot (automated software process); botlike.


botty

Compare boot, booting for shoot, shooting

Sticks and Stones may break my bones
Not when I back this botty

2017 August 4, “Sticks and Stones”performed by Zone 2 (Kwengface x Trizzac x PS):

If Kizz step with a botty
You know it's packed with two big cylinders

2019 May 21, “Can’t Rate” (0:46 from the start), Yanko (7th) (lyrics):

Stepped in a rave with ying and yang, that’s me and bro with the botties
Ride around in the back of a cab, that’s me and this thing from Tottie

2020 October 17, “Ying Yang”, performed by #TNB MA x Mighty1 x Di, 1:48 and from 2:55:

(MLE, slang) Alternative form of shotty, alternative form of dotty (“shotgun”).


bardiche

A poleaxe with a long blade that extends beyond the shaft.


reload

en-verb

reload (third-person singular simple present reloads, present participle reloading, simple past and past participle reloaded)

reloads (present singular third-person)
reloading (participle present)
reloaded (participle past)
reloaded (past)

(firearms) To load a gun again; or recharge a used cartridge.


reload

(firearms) An ammunition cartridge prepared from previously fired ammunition.


fall-out shelter

en-noun

fall-out shelter (plural fall-out shelters)


fallout shelter

fallout shelter (plural fallout shelters)

A thick-walled building, usually under the ground, built so that people can keep away from dust after a nuclear explosion.


sporter

(firearms) A firearm suitable for sporting use.


misfire

en-verb

misfire (third-person singular simple present misfires, present participle misfiring, simple past and past participle misfired)

misfires (present singular third-person)
misfiring (participle present)
misfired (participle past)
misfired (past)

Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).

(firearms) To fail to discharge properly.


siege weapon

A weapon (usually very large) used by the aggressor in siege warfare. Examples include trebuchets, catapults, cannon, etc.


stiletto

en-noun

stiletto (plural stilettos or stilettoes or stiletti)

stilettos (plural)
stilettoes (plural)
stiletti (plural)

Borrowed from Italian stiletto. Doublet of stylet.


wheellock

(historical, firearms) An early type of firearm, using a spring-driven wheel against a flint to make sparks in the firing pan.


petronel

From Middle French petrinal, alteration of poitrinal, from poitrinal (“of the chest”) (the weapon is thought to have been braced against a chest-pad when firing), from poitrine (“chest, breast”), from Latin pectorina, feminine of pectorinus (“of the breast”) (from pectus (“chest”) + -inus (“-ine”)).

[…]And putting vp good ſtore of gold and Iewels for that iourney, and taking with him a good horſe, that was browne Bay, with a Petronell hanging at the arſon of his Saddle[…]

1634, Matheo Aleman, “Wherein Guzman de Alfarache relateth the Story of thoſe two Louers, Ozmin and Daraxa”, in Don Diego Puede-Ser, transl., The rogue: or The life of Guzman de Alfarache, volume 1, pages 68–69:

(obsolete, weaponry) A short but large-caliber, heavy 16th and 17th-century firearm that used a matchlock or wheellock mechanism, intermediate between the arquebuse and pistol.


panjandrum

panjandrum (plural panjandrums or panjandra)

Coined as a nonce word in the 18th century by Samuel Foote.

The Panjandrum lurched and overturned, the crash dislodging several of the rockets, which flew low over the beach in all directions […].

1967, John Winton, The War At Sea, 1939-1945: An Anthology of Personal Experience, page 304:

The idea was that the Panjandrum, a kind of explosion-driven Ferris wheel, would be set rotating and then released into shallow water to roll up onto enemy beaches.

2003, Neil A. Downie, chapter 14, in Ink Sandwiches, Electric Worms, and 37 Other Experiments for Saturday Science, →ISBN, page 115:

(military) A massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II.


mutually assured destruction

mutually assured destruction (uncountable)

mutual assured destruction
mutual assured destruction#English

Alternative form of mutual assured destruction


tachi

A pre-katana style Japanese sword, characterized by a longer blade with more curvature.


proxy war

With the enhanced insurgent firepower and with Russia steadily raising the number of airstrikes against the government’s opponents, the Syrian conflict is edging closer to an all-out proxy war between the United States and Russia.

2015 October 12, Anne Barnard, Karam Shoumali, “U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria Into Proxy War With Russia”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A war where two powers use third parties as a supplement to, or a substitute for, fighting each other directly.


colichemarde

A blade, with a hexagonal or diamond-shaped cross section, once used to make small swords.


BB gun

From the size of buckshot originally fired from this type of gun.

A gun that shoots BB-size pellets, typically using compressed air, or sometimes just a compressed spring.


polearm

From pole + arm. The term is of modern provenance, not appearing until the late 1800s.

A close-quarter combat weapon with the main fighting part of the weapon placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood.


Nixon

From Nick + -son, an alteration of Nickson, originally a patronymic meaning "son of Nicholas".

An English surname transferred from the given name.

Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States of America

A township in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States, named after early settlers George, William and Morris Nixon.

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, named in honor of George S. Nixon, Nevada senator.


letter bomb

en-verb

letter bomb (third-person singular simple present letter bombs, present participle letter bombing, simple past and past participle letter bombed)

letter bombs (present singular third-person)
letter bombing (participle present)
letter bombed (participle past)
letter bombed (past)

(transitive) To send a letter bomb (of either sense).


pan

→? Irish: panna

→ Japanese: パン

From Middle English panne, from Old English panne, from Proto-West Germanic *pannā, from Proto-Germanic *pannǭ, from Late Latin panna, from Latin patina (“broad, shallow dish, pan, stewpan”), from Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē, “kind of flat dish”), which is probably from Pre-Greek.
Cognate with West Frisian panne, Saterland Frisian Ponne, Dutch pan, German Low German Panne, Pann, German Pfanne, Danish pande, Swedish panna, Icelandic panna.

pan

flat vessel used for cooking — see also frying pan

flash in the pan

[…] he pull’d the Trigger, but Providence being pleas’d to preserve me for some other Purpose, the Cock snapp’d, and miss’d Fire. Whether the Prime was wet in the Pan, or by what other Miracle it was I escap’d his Fury, I cannot say […]

1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, pages 95–96:

And he […] glared on the cold pistols that hung before him—ready for anything. And he took down one with a snatch and weighed it in his hand, and fell to thinking again; and, as he did, kept opening and shutting the pan with a snap, […]

1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

(firearms) The part of a flintlock that holds the priming.


billhook

→ Irish: bileog

→ Welsh: bilwg

Earliest use in weapon (and later, agricultural) sense, bill (“a bladed pike”) + hook; other senses formed anew from various meanings of bill.

(weaponry) A medieval polearm, fitted to a long handle, sometimes with an L-shaped tine or a spike protruding from the side or the end of the blade for tackling the opponent; a bill.


spitfire

1801, Peter Viereck, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin., Volume ⅩⅠⅠⅠ, by John Nichols (arranged by Thomas Sheridan), p. 143, published in London
"―But however provoked, are your scribbling spitfires never to be satisfied?"

A person with a fiery temper, someone easily provoked to anger, especially a woman or girl.


From uranium + 235 (“the atomic mass of the isotope”).

af

The Zaporizhzhia plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia’s invasion, and has been forced to operate on backup generators a number of times. It has six Soviet-designed water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing uranium-235.

2022 November 21, Lorenzo Tondo, Peter Beaumont, “Ukraine to start evacuations in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions as winter sets in”, in The Guardian:

(physics) A fissile isotope of uranium, used for energy generation and in atomic weapons, containing one hundred and forty-three neutrons. It has a half-life of 7·038×10⁸ years; it decays into thorium-231 and ultimately lead.


Zweihänder

Borrowed from German Zweihänder (literally “two hander”), from zwei (“two”) + Hand (“hand”) + -er.

bor

Their major weapon was the pike, which could be up to 18 feet in length, but those whose duty it was to advance in the front line carried instead the fearsome Zweihänder; an enormous battle-sword around 66 inches in length.

1994, Douglas Miller, The Landsknechts, page 42:

[…] and even the two-handed sword, Zweihänder […]

1995, R. Coltman Clephan, The Mediaeval Tournament, page 105:

(historical) A two-handed sword primarily of Renaissance Germany, up to a fathom in length, invented in the 14th century.


gaffle

From Middle English gaffolle, a borrowing from Middle Dutch gaffel, gafel (“fork”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *gabulu (“fork”), related to Old English gafol, ġeafel (“fork”).

(historical, weaponry) A portable fork of iron or wood in which the heavy musket formerly in use was rested that it might be accurately aimed and fired.


DEFCON

activation and readiness level of the United States armed forces, as "DEFCON 4".


tonfa

A traditional hand-held Okinawan weapon, a wooden stick with a perpendicular handle, traditionally wielded in pairs.


bull-whip

en-verb

bull-whip (third-person singular simple present bull-whips, present participle bull-whipping, simple past and past participle bull-whipped)

bull-whips (present singular third-person)
bull-whipping (participle present)
bull-whipped (participle past)
bull-whipped (past)


bullwhip

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

A whip made from plaited leather, often with a knotted end, for use with livestock.


Shahab

From Persian شهاب (šahâb, literally “meteor”), from Arabic شِهَاب (šihāb).

bor

شهاب شهاب#Persian

A transliteration of the Persian male given name شهاب (šahâb).


archership

1791, William Cowper (translator), The Odyssey of Homer, Book 19, in The Poetical Works of William Cowper, London: William Smith, 1839, p. 492,
[…] I shall fix,
This day, the rings for trial to them all
Of archership;

“We can reckon on killing a stag, if he will stand still, at a hundred and fifty yards,” Ned said, “or running, at a hundred; don’t you think so?”
“Well, six times out of seven we ought to at any rate,” Tom replied, “or our Devonshire archership has deserted us.”

1883, G. A. Henty, chapter 11, in Under Drake’s Flag, London: Blackie and Son, page 184:


ranseur

/ɹɑːnˈsɜː(ɹ)/

Any of several types of spear with a long sharp end and two projections on each side.


tabun

(organic chemistry, military) An extremely toxic nerve gas; a clear, tasteless liquid, molecular formula C₅H₁₁N₂O₂P.


Mjollnir

Borrowed from Old Norse Mjǫllnir, from Proto-Germanic *meldunjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *meldʰ-n- (“lightning”). Compare Old Norse mjuln (“fire”), Welsh mellt, Slovene mółnja, Russian мо́лния (mólnija).

(Norse mythology) The hammer of the Norse god Thor.


dao

From the pinyin romanization of Chinese 道 (Dào, literally “the Way”) or (dào, "circuit").

(historical) Synonym of circuit: various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China.


peashooter

Compared to my forty-five, it's a toy. Christ, Thanet, why did you buy it in the first place? I would have given you one of mine, a real weapon, one with knock down power, compared to that peashooter on your hip.

2012, Wayne Greenough, The Ferguson Murder, page 41:

(weaponry, slang) Any small or ineffective gun or weapon.


twibill

From Middle English twibill, from Old English twibill, from twi- (“double”) + bill (“edge, blade”), see also billhook.

(carpentry) A two-edged tool used in gate-type hurdle-making for cutting out mortises, with a flat chisel and a mortise chisel or hook, similar to the much larger French carpenter's tool, the besaiguë (or bisaiguë).

(dialectal, British) A mattock with one blade like an axe and the other like an adze.

(dialectal, England) A reaping hook, especially for cutting beans and peas.

[A] little fair-haired man, as broad as he was tall, who heaved up a long “twybill,” or double axe.

1866, Charles Kingsley, chapter 19, in Hereward the Wake, London: Nelson, page 258:

(obsolete) A double-bladed halberd or battle-axe.


undercharge

en-verb

undercharge (third-person singular simple present undercharges, present participle undercharging, simple past and past participle undercharged)

undercharges (present singular third-person)
undercharging (participle present)
undercharged (participle past)
undercharged (past)

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to undercharge a gun

(transitive, firearms) To put too small a charge into.


blacksnake

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

Alternative form of black snake: any of several relatively harmless North American snakes.


water cannon

en-noun

water cannon (plural water cannons or water cannon)

water cannons (plural)
water cannon (plural)

A device that shoots a large amount of water at high pressure through a hose-like tube.


muzzleloading

Of a gun, having ammunition loaded from the front of the barrel where it will exit.

suustaladattava

of a gun, having ammunition loaded from the front of the barrel


breechloading

Describing a breechloader gun: one that has ammunition loaded from the rear of the barrel rather than where it will exit.


broadhead

(bowhunting) A flat arrowhead with razor-sharp sides, intended to kill prey by causing severe bleeding.


out-of-battery

An out-of-battery discharge can produce a catastrophic failure of the weapon.

(weaponry) In firearms and artillery, having a condition in which a live round is at least partially in the firing chamber and capable of being fired, but is not properly secured by the usual mechanism of that particular weapon.


nailbat

It helps a BUNDLE if Cloud is equipped with barely any materia except Restore + Nail Bat, and Tifa is equipped with barely any materia + Tiger Hand.

1997 September 20, Luke Drelick, “Need help in Temple of the Ancients:”, in alt.games.final-fantasy (Usenet):

What size nail is in the nailbat?

1997 November 27, Unright, “Need help with Final Fantasy 7?”, in alt.games.final-fantasy (Usenet):

2000, Mar 6: "He of the Red Glasses", how many nails does it take? [ot], alt.gothic, Usenet
Or just a baseball bat with a (long) nail in it. Long live the Nailbat! It will smite you with much smite!

2000, Apr 8: Matt, 10,000 Promises anyone?, alt.fan.backstreet.boys, Usenet
Tell the toaster oven you love and appreciate it, then have at it with a nail bat while it sleeps lest it sway the eggbeater and blender its way.

you just sodomized all my chances with a nailbat.

2001 March 18, Grim Serrator, “Catastrophe?”, in alt.music.mdfmk (Usenet):

Did Sean really not remember me, not even threatening me with a knife or his home-made nail-bat?

2003, John Logan, Bringing Something Back:

(informal) A baseball bat with a nail or nails in it, as a weapon.


drawbore

en-verb

drawbore (third-person singular simple present drawbores, present participle drawboring, simple past and past participle drawbored)

drawbores (present singular third-person)
drawboring (participle present)
drawbored (participle past)
drawbored (past)

(transitive) To enlarge the bore of a gun barrel by drawing, instead of thrusting, a revolving tool through it.


Tito

Josip Broz Tito, a Yugoslav revolutionary and politician.


land mine

With the cessation of hostilities, the military traffic declined considerably, although at least two years will be required to remove the many thousands of tons of explosives still stored at the depot. The supplies of mustard gas have already been despatched to Stranraer to be dumped in the sea, and the disposal of ¾-million land mines has called for the provision of 17 special trains.

1947 January and February, “Wartime Traffic at Tanfield, L.N.E.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 47:

(military) A mine that is placed on land and designed to explode when stepped upon or touched.

(always written together, from a Landmine™ developed in 1999 by a US company called Sorinex) A piece of exercise device consisting of a pivoting tube attached to the ground to which a barbell can be fitted to lift it off the ground.


Jungle Carbine

So called due to its primary service in the jungles of Malaya after World War II.

(informal) The British-made Number 5 SMLE rifle, with a shortened barrel suitable for jungle warfare.


Russian roulette

From roulette, a game of chance involving a revolving wheel. The first description is apparently in "The Fatalist," an 1840 short story by Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov.

(idiomatic, games) A deadly game in which a person loads a single bullet in the cylinder of a revolver, spins the cylinder so that the bullet's location is unknown, points the muzzle at his/her head, and pulls the trigger. In its most lethal form, played by multiple participants each of whom takes a turn until the weapon discharges.

رُولِيت رُوسِيّ

deadly game with revolver and random spinning


lead shot

Small balls of lead, used as projectiles in shotguns, and as a weight in angling etc


concentrator

(firearms) A frame or ring of wire or hard paper fitting into the cartridge case used in some shotguns, and holding the shot together when discharged, to secure close shooting; also, a device for slightly narrowing the bore at the muzzle for the same purpose.


yataghan

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish یتاغان (modern Turkish yatağan), related to Old Turkic [script needed] (yat-, “to bend, incline; to lie”), whence also words like yatmak (“to lie”), yatak (“bed”), yatay (“horizontal”), etc.

cog

The angry-faced official communicated the intelligence to a large group of Anadolian, Caramanian, Bosniac, and Roumelian Turks,— sturdy, undersized, broad-shouldered, bare-legged, splay-footed, horny-fisted, dark-browed, honest-looking mountaineers, who were lounging about with long pistols and yataghans stuck in their broad sashes [...].

1855, Sir Richard Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, Dover, published 1964, page 22:

A Montenegrin perceived it and ran immediately to him and drew his yataghan, saying, “You are very brave, and must wish that I should cut off your head rather than that you should fall into the hands of the enemy.”

1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 1041:

A type of sword used in Muslim countries from the mid-16th to late 19th centuries.


selfbow

From self (“having its own or a single nature or character throughout without addition or change, unmixed; (archery) of a bow: made from a single piece of wood”, adjective) + bow.

compound

With reſpect to a bow being made round, we muſt recollect, that [Roger] Aſcham ſpeaks of a ſelf'''-bow; which, it ſeems, was made round as well as the back as in the belly: but back'd-bows have almoſt always a flat back, to prevent their caſting.

1801, T[homas] Roberts, “Of the Bow”, in The English Bowman, or Tracts on Archery; […], London: […] [F]or the author, by C. Roworth, […]; [s]old by Mr. [Thomas] Edgerton, […]; [a]lso by Mr. [Thomas] Waring, […], →OCLC, section III (Of Proving the Bow), page 141:

Many Archers use a piece of waxed cloth, which is of great utility, as it not only gives the Bow a polish, but is a preventative against damps penetrating; this precaution however, is not so much required for self Bows, as backed ones. Self Bows are made of one piece of wood only, and that is generally of yew, but the long known difficulty of procuring good English yew, has compelled Bow makers of late years, to resort to various other woods, all containing great spring, but little pliability; the deficiency of the latter is amply supplied by the addition of a slip of ash, or some other tough wood glued to them; the toughness of the one combined to the elasticity of the other, both acting in conjunction, make capital Bows, and these it is that are called back'd Bows.

1820, Thomas Waring, “Attitude in Shooting”, in A Treatise on Archery; or, The Art of Shooting with the Long Bow. […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Seale [for Thomas Waring], →OCLC, page 21:

[A] backed bow does not exceed a self bow, except that it is thought by some to be pleasanter and easier to draw, especially in the last inch, and of quicker cast.

1831, T[homas] B[urgeland] Johnson, “BOW”, in The Sportsman’s Cyclopedia; […], London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, […], →OCLC, page 78:

I once made a beautiful self-bow from a large branch of yew, which was amputated, after two valuable coach-horses had been poisoned by feeding on its leaves.

1840, George Agar Hansard, “Section VIII. Of Yew Trees, Yew Bows, &c. &c.”, in The Book of Archery, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, footnote *, page 350:

Modern bows are of two kinds, viz. self bows and backed bows. The self bow is composed of only one kind of wood; but the backed bow is composed of two kinds of wood, both the full length of the bow, carefully joined together.

1845, [Jane] Loudon, “Letter XVIII. Archery: Targets; Self Bows and Backed Bows; …”, in The Lady’s Country Companion; or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, book V (Country Amusements), page 366:

The self-bow is the real old Engish weapon; the one with which the many mighty deeds that rendered this country renowned in times gone by were performed; […] Of the woods for self-bows, Yew beyond all question carries off the palm; other woods have been, and still are, in use, such as lance, Cocus, Washaba, Rose, Snake, and some others; but they may be summarily dismissed with the remark, that self-bows made of these woods are all, without exception radically bad, being heavy in hand, apt to jar, comparatively dull in cast, and very liable to chrysal and break, and that no archer should use them so long as a self-yew or a good backed-bow is within his reach.

1856, Horace A[lfred] Ford, “Of the Bow”, in Archery: Its Theory and Practice, London: J. Buchanan, […]; Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: H[enry] Davies, […], →OCLC, page 14:

Bows were of several types. Most common was a selfbow (a bow made of a single piece of wood with no laminating materials) of springy wood tapering toward both ends and sometimes narrowed at the grip.

1995, Harvey Markowitz, “Bows, Arrows, and Quivers”, in American Indians (A Magill Book), volumes 1 (A–Hay), Pasadena, Calif.; Hackensack, N.J.: Salem Press, →ISBN; republished in Carole A. Barrett, Harvey J. Markowitz, editors, American Indian Culture (Magill’s Choice), volumes 1 (Acorns–Headdresses), Pasadena, Calif.; Hackensack, N.J.: Salem Press, 2004, →ISBN, page 148:

If the design of the weapon is moderate enough to be successful as an all wood selfbow then the addition of sinew and horn will probably result in a net loss of arrow performance.

2001, Hari Heath, “Wood under Stress”, in David Wescott, editor, Primitive Technology II: Ancestral Skills […], Salt Lake City, Ut.: Gibbs Smith, →ISBN, section 4 (Projectiles—Bows and Arrows), page 106, column 1:

The recurved bow design originated in antiquity when the longbow, or self[-]bow, made entirely from wood, was reinforced with animal sinew to produce adequate energy in a shorter bow suitable for mounted archers.

2005, Tom Airhart, “Personal Gear”, in Elk Hunting Guide: Skills, Gear, and Insight, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 259:

(archery) A bow made from a single piece of wood (often referred to as a bow stave).


montante

Borrowed from Spanish montante or a cognate in another language.

"Choose a zweihander if you prefer." He seemed about to reach for one of the German blades, then let his hand fall. "The montante has a certain flair. I think the old Iberian masters would approve." He met her eye, the silence growing ...

2020, Kat Ross, Balthazar's Bane, Kat Ross, →ISBN:

A type of longsword used in the 16th and 17th centuries.


fauchard

/ˈfɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)d/

(historical) An early European weapon consisting of a curved blade on a long pole.


smoke wagon

The following list of hobo words, presented in glossary form, was collected by me during twenty years of experience with hobo cases in my profession of attorney-at-law. . . . Smoke wagon—pistol.

1926, Nicholas Klein, “Hobo Lingo”, in American Speech, volume 1, number 12, pages 650–653:

Familiar epithets for the revolver were equalizer, shootin' iron . . . smoke wagon.

1950, C. Merton Babcock, “The Vocabulary of Social Life on the American Frontier”, in Western Folklore, volume 9, number 2, page 138:

Wyatt (Kurt Russell): Go ahead. Skin it. Skin that smoke wagon and see what happens. . . . I'm getting tired of your gas. Jerk that pistol and go to work.

1993, Kevin Jarre, Tombstone (film script)

(US, slang, archaic) A handgun, especially a revolver.


stripper clip

(military) A pressed metal (or plastic) clip, holding a set number of cartridges for a firearm, and used for rapid reloading of the weapon or its magazine, and which is then removed or ejected from the weapon or magazine before firing.


speed loader

(firearms) A pressed metal (or plastic) clip, holding a set number of cartridges for a firearm, and used for rapid reloading of the weapon or its magazine.


six-shooter

He drank a quart of whisky a day; was almost never drunk, but on rare occasions when the liquor fumes bested him he would invariably select a hapless victim and, whipping out the pair of mother-o’-pearl-handled six-shooters he always wore at his belt, would force him to dance by shooting at his feet—a pleasing fancy brought with him from Texas and the Cimarron.

Five or six of them youngsters, weren’t but two of them upwards of twelve or thirteen, they outs with their six-shooters and had me covered.

1979, Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter, →ISBN, →OL:

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


denuclearize

en-verb

denuclearize (third-person singular simple present denuclearizes, present participle denuclearizing, simple past and past participle denuclearized)

denuclearizes (present singular third-person)
denuclearizing (participle present)
denuclearized (participle past)
denuclearized (past)

America’s security, and your standing as leader of the free world, will rise if you get straight to work on these looming threats rather than expending yourself in another Sisyphean attempt to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, denuclearize North Korea or address the root causes of Latin American migration.

2024 November 5, Bret Stephens, “To Whom it May Concern”, in New York Times:

(transitive) To ban, remove or reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons in an area.


war hammer

A medieval hammer-like weapon used in close combat.


saucisse

Borrowed from French saucisse (“sausage”). Doublet of sausage.

(mining, firearms) A long and slender pipe or bag, made of cloth well pitched, or of leather, filled with powder, and used to communicate fire to mines, caissons, bomb chests, etc.


plinking

en-noun

plinking (countable and uncountable, plural plinkings)

(firearms) Informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles and wood blocks.


Reagan

Audio (US)

Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Riagáin "descendant of Riagán", a personal name possibly derived from ríodhgach "impulsive, furious".

Of the administration of Ronald Reagan, U.S. President from 1981–1989.

A male given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.

A female given name transferred from the surname, of 1970s and later American usage.


astragal

From Ancient Greek ἀστράγαλος (astrágalos). Doublet of astragalus.

(weaponry) A circular molding near the mouth of a cannon.


trapshooting

The sport, similar to skeet, of shooting at thrown targets with a shotgun.


disrupter

(science fiction) An energy weapon in the form of a pistol.


pro-nuclear

en-adj

pro-nuclear (comparative more pro-nuclear, superlative most pro-nuclear)

more pro-nuclear (comparative)
most pro-nuclear (superlative)

In favor of the use of nuclear energy and the building of nuclear power plants.


falchion

From Middle English fauchoun, from Old French fauchon (cognate with Italian falcione), from Vulgar Latin *falciōnem, from Latin falx.

fawken (15th century, erroneous, conflating falcon)

falcen (17th century, erroneous, conflating falcon)


counterforce

(military) Targeting an opponent's military assets, such as missile silos, rather than other valuable assets such as cities and civilian populations.


oiler

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From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil + -er.

(firearms) A small (typically thumb-sized) metal container of oil, often containing an integral brush.


flick knife

(British, Ireland) A type of knife which has the blade mounted on a pivot so that it can fold back sideways into the handle when not in use, but can flick out straight, usually with a spring-loaded mechanism, when required.


AK

(US) Abbreviation of Alaska, A state of the United States.


AK

an AK-47, AK-74, or related assault rifle (Avtomat Kalasnikova or Kalashnikov)

Cops got AKs, y'all only got pumps, that shit's just dumb.

2001, “That's How”, in Denaun Porter (lyrics), Marshall Bruce Mathers III and Denaun Porter (music), Devil's Night, performed by D12, New York: Shady Records:

(by extension, slang, nonstandard) Any assault rifle or machine gun.


TRB

(military, firearms) Initialism of tap, rack, bang.


hand grenade

(archaic) A fire grenade (kind of portable fire extinguisher).

almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades


toxophily

The love of, or an addiction to, archery


nail bomb

A bomb designed to cause extensive wounding by packing sharp objects around the explosive; used especially by terrorists and suicide bombers.

spijkerbom

bomb with sharp objects around the explosive


reprocessing

en-noun

reprocessing (countable and uncountable, plural reprocessings)

eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:

(engineering, nuclear physics, uncountable) The process of extracting useful or valuable materials from used nuclear fuel, mainly focusing on the recovery of fissile and fertile material for use in fresh nuclear reactor fuel, or, in some cases, the manufacture of nuclear weapons.


Armalite

Brand name, presumably from arm and light, i.e. lightweight.

Any of several assault rifles originally made in the USA from the late 1950s.


muzzle velocity

muzzle velocity (plural muzzle velocities)

(firearms) The velocity of a discharged projectile at the muzzle of a firearm.


free float

en-verb

free float (third-person singular simple present free floats, present participle free floating, simple past and past participle free floated)

free floats (present singular third-person)
free floating (participle present)
free floated (participle past)
free floated (past)

(firearms) to alter a firearm so that no part of the barrel touches the stock.


barrelled

a barrelled action

a double-barrelled shotgun

(firearms) Having a barrel or specified number of barrels.


kukri

In the later part of the Second World War it was customary in the French army to vaunt the ferocity of ‘their’ Algerian Tirailleurs against the Germans, much as the British took pride in the deeds performed by the Gurkhas with their terrible kukris.

1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 171:

Soon, however, the bayonets of the 72nd Highlanders and the kukris of the 2nd Gurkhas began to tell.

1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 356:

A curved Nepalese knife used especially by Gurkha fighters; many variants exist, but all share recurve as a common theme.


DEW line

(military, historical) A system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska.


stun gun

Lodner tossed the stun gun on a flange between the stills and the fluxing panels.

1946 November, Mark Champion, “Unforeseen”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 38, number 3, page 42:

The removable pages are organized in strict military fashion and include complete data on the Commlock, Stun Gun, Laser Cannon, Communications Post, Uniforms, and several fold-out blueprints of the various levels and areas of Moonbase Alpha.

1978 January, “The Official Moonbase Alpha Technical Notebook (advert)”, in Starlog, volume 2, number 11, page 9:

A stun gun disguised as a mobile phone has been seized from a 14-year-old boy in Manchester.

2014 March 8, “Manchester police seize stun gun disguised as iPhone”, in BBC News:

A weapon intended to immobilize, usually through delivery of an electric shock.


xyston

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ξυστόν (xustón, “spear, javelin”), of unknown origin. Potentially from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰasto- or *ǵʰasdʰo- (“branch ~ spear, sharp spine”) (whence also gad, goad, and yard), but this is likely a substrate word in view of the various irregularities.

bor

The Companions, like the Thessalian cavalry, were a well-mounted force armed with cuirass and the short thrusting spear (xyston) for close combat.

2004, J. F. C. Fuller, The Generalship of Alexander the Great, page 47:

A type of long thrusting lance, used in ancient Greece.


Berlin Wall

(politics) Any barrier designed to keep people from crossing a border, e.g. the one proposed to keep people from crossing from Mexico into the United States.


exit wound

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Exit wounds, whether they are the result of contact, intermediate, or distant firing, all have the same general characteristics. They are typically larger and more irregular than entrance wounds and, with rare exception, do not possess an abrasion ring. Exit wounds can be stellate, slit-like, crescent, circular, or completely irregular (Figure 4.23).

1998, Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques, 2nd edition, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 92:

(medicine, forensics) A perforation of the skin caused by a projectile (such as a bullet) leaving the body.


Bent Spear

(US, euphemistic, military) A significant incident with a nuclear weapon, nuclear components, or nuclear-bearing vehicle.


Broken Arrow

In the US, the code name for a serious nuclear weapons incident is "Broken Arrow". It is US policy neither to confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons at any specific location; this also applies to Broken Arrow incidents.

2004, Roland Everett Langford, Introduction to Weapons of Mass Destruction: Radiological, Chemical, and Biological, page 97:

(US, euphemistic, military) An accidental event that involves nuclear weapons or nuclear components but does not create the risk of nuclear war.


Broken Arrow

The FAC urgently sends over his radio a cry for help: "Broken Arrow! Broken Arrow!' His message unleashes all available close air support in South Vietnam on a priority basis.

2003, Jacques-François de Chaunac, The American Cavalry in Vietnam: "First Cav", →ISBN, page 48:

Before Caras could respond, the General threw down the mike, turned to his second and said, "Get them all the air support we have, everything. This is Broken Arrow"

2008, Terry Ryan, Bring Out Your Dead, →ISBN, page 137:

Broken Arrow refers to the U.S. military's code word used during the Vietnam War. This call was used only in the direst of tactical situations, when a ground unit was overrun by enemy forces. When "Broken Arrow" was heard on the radio nets, all available aircraft were diverted to provide close air support for the endangered command.

2010, Danny W. Davis, The Phinehas Priesthood, →ISBN:

All Pulse elements, this is Home Plate. Broken Arrow. I repeat, Broken Arrow. Forward command of close air-support operations is Rebel Four One.

2017, Kevin Ikenberry, Vendetta Protocol, page 155:

(US, military) A code phrase indicating that a ground unit is facing imminent destruction from enemy attack and all available air forces within range are to provide air support immediately.


degen

"Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degen, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter XXVIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, volume 1, New York: J. & J. Harper, page 228:


breaking wheel

(historical) A wheel used to break a restrained victim's limbs and body in an ancient European form of execution.


smatchet

(Scotland) A small, nasty or insignificant person.


nonproliferation

en-noun

nonproliferation (usually uncountable, plural nonproliferations)

Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Involving the prevention of proliferation; Opposed to the spread (of something).


proxy mine

2000: "twopinacoladas", review of The World is not Enough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/review/R12476.html
In mid night departure (forest with the air control) base the frame rate ''SUCKS'' out side far worse then PD with 4 players 8 sims and proxy mines.

Proxy mines are always good because the computer doesn't seem to defend against them.

2002: "yc", Super Smash Bros. Melee: Marth http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/516492/18648

2004: "TerranRedneck", review of Custom Robo http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/review/R73394.html
Pods are like "little buddies" that help you out. Some buzz around your rivals head obscuring his vision and annoying him, some serve as proxy mines, while others simply bounce off the walls blowing up on the first bot they meet.

The proxy mines detonate when anyone comes near them (including the one who set the mine) and are absolutely wonderful for laying traps.

2006: "ProtectorOne", Perfect Dark: Multiplayer Scenario FAQ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/file/198275/43519

If you get too close it'll trigger. Shoot it from a safe distance and it will blow up. … Leave the room and go through the door that was previously protected by a proxy mine.

2007: "UnknownMercernary", Die Hard: Vendetta: FAQ/Walkthrough http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/479800/47821

(slang, weaponry, video games) A proximity mine; a mine that explodes when something approaches within a certain distance.


flash-bang

From flash + bang. From the bright flash of light and loud bang (a concussive shockwave of sound) generated by this device.

As evening begins here in Washington, police are firing tear gas, deploying flash-bangs to disperse peaceful protests near the White House.

2020 June 1, 0:16–0:24 from the start, in Death of George Floyd drives protests across the U.S. — and beyond, Judy Woodruff (actor), PBS NewsHour:

A hand grenade that produces a very bright flash and a loud explosion, but no shrapnel and minimal explosive force, to disorient the target.

chockgranat

in non-technical language – see usage notes


doomsday device

doomsday device (plural doomsday devices)

Coined as Doomsday Machine by military strategist Herman Kahn.

For more than a year, ominous rumors had been privately circulating among high-level Western leaders that the Soviet Union had been at work on what was darkly hinted to be the ultimate weapon: a doomsday device.

1964, Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, spoken by Narrator:

Of course, Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, is calling for merging the S.E.C. with the easygoing Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in the financial equivalent of setting off a Doomsday Device.

2008 April 27, Ben Stein, “Wall Street, Run Amok”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A hypothetical weapon (often a bomb) programmed to automatically be used in response to certain attacks, usually with very dire consequences (such as the annihilation of the world).


Doomsday Device

Doomsday Device (plural Doomsday Devices)


Pax Americana

From Latin pāx (“peace”) + Americāna (“American”) after the model of the imperial Roman Pāx Rōmāna and earlier British Pāx Britannica.

Earlier this month Boston's WBUR radio station titled a special on US imperial power with the Latin tag Pax Americana. Tom Wolfe has written that the America of today is “now the mightiest power on earth, as omnipotent as… Rome under Julius Caesar”.

2002 September 18, Jonathan Freedland, “Rome, AD… Rome, DC?”, in The Guardian:

A war like this — a voluntary war of aggression — would be a sign that Putin believed that Pax Americana was over and that the U.S., the European Union and their allies had become too weak to exact painful consequences.

2022 February 21, David Leonhardt, “Why Ukraine Is Different”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The period of relative peace in the Western world since the end of World War II in 1945, coinciding with the military and economic dominance of the United States.


softnose

Questions that have arisen regarding the "stopping power" of the modern small-caliber bullet, particularly in view of the reduction of the caliber of the rifle in some services to 0.25 inch, or even less, have led to propositions to adopt soft-nose or "mushrooming" bullets, which will be deformed on striking an animate object, inflict a more dangerous wound, and increase the shock over that given by a hard bullet of the same caliber and weight, which would penetrate the body without deformation. […] The soft-nose bullet is inferior in accuracy, and is especially inferior in its ability to penetrate hard substances used for defensive purposes, making it almost useless to reach troops under cover that would be dislodged by the service bullet.

1897, “Seacoast Guns”, in Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance to the Secretary of War for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1896, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 21:

When I got the rifle I shot a coyote in a trap, to see what effect the soft nose bullet would have. He was struck back of shoulder, and a hole torn, where bullet entered, about 3½ inches in diameter.

1898 September, A. A. Haines, “The Ideal Gun for Coyotes [letter]”, in G[eorge] O[liver] Shields, editor, Recreation, volume IX, number 3, New York, N.Y.: G. O. Shields (Coquina), →OCLC, page 216, column 1:

The soft nose bullet if it is fired and hitting any hard object, especially bone, it flattens and becomes distorted and is no longer round and has a tearing force with it.

1935 November 11, J. C. Shields, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 184:

The softnose technique involved placing an inhibitor on a blaster, which allowed a laser to travel at slower speeds, actually penetrating the target. Initially developed for mining purposes, they were quickly adapted by some greedy weapons manufacturer.

[2002, Eoin Colfer, “Cruisin’ for Chix”, in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Miramax Books; Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, →ISBN, page 35:

(firearms) Of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact, causing a large amount of damage; soft-nosed.

pehmeäkärkinen

of a bullet: lacking a jacketed nose and thereby deforming greatly on impact


softnose

softnose (countable and uncountable, plural softnoses)

Coordinate term: hollow point

The soft nose when it strikes a hard substance, mushrooms, would leave ten times as large a hole as a hard nose bullet striking the same substance. A soft nose bullet would leave a ragged edge.

1935 November 11, Clyde L. McNeil, witness, New York Life Insurance Company, Petitioner, vs. Stella Jane Gamer, as Executrix of the Will of E. Walter Gamer, also Known as Edward W. Gamer, Deceased: Transcript of Record (Supreme Court of the United States; no. 323), Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, […], published 31 December 1937, page 215:

And get a couple of boxes of .40 caliber Glasers, too. And about a dozen boxes of .30 caliber softnoses for my SKS. You need some cash for all that?

2000, John W. Myers, “Can Your Home Fort be Defended if Attacked? Or, ‘Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition’”, in The Crossland Shootpout: Adventures of a Photojournalist, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116:

The softnoses were just as quickly outlawed, for the obvious reason that these weapons were designed to kill, and not to incapacitate.

On the upside, I guess the sniper keeps the kids home at night. They're at that age where they prefer tear-assing around town to spending time at home. Judy's 15, and that means all she thinks about is boys. Too bad for her none of her knights in shining armor have been willing to risk a .270 Winchester softnose between the eyes.

2004 October 27, William Gussie [pseudonym], “Man, I Wish that Sniper would Go Away”, in The Onion, archived from the original on 2018-03-14:

(firearms, countable) A bullet of this kind; (uncountable) bullets of this kind collectively.

pehmeäkärkinen luoti

bullet of this kind; bullets of this kind collectively


sawed-off shotgun

sawed-off shotgun (plural sawed-off shotguns)

sawn-off shotgun
sawn-off shotgun#English


sawn-off shotgun

sawn-off shotgun (plural sawn-off shotguns)

I never really got there / I just pretended that I had / Words are blunt instruments / Words are sawn-off shotguns

2007, “Jigsaw Falling into Place”, in In Rainbows, performed by Radiohead:

A shotgun whose barrel(s) has been shortened for ease of concealment and to give a larger spread, though with more limited range (often for illegal purposes).


double-barrelled shotgun

double-barrelled shotgun (plural double-barrelled shotguns)

A type of shot-firing gun with two long, parallel barrels, allowing the user to fire twice in quick succession.


greatsword

It is the "red horse" which was sent forth upon the opening of the "second seal," to whose rider was given power "to take peace from the earth that they should kill one another; and there was also given unto him a greatsword."

1851-1852, Appendix to the Congressional Globe for the First Session, Thirty-Second Congress: Containing Speeches and Important State Papers, Superintendent of Government Documents, page 213:

Shouting with joy, his shimmering greatsword.

1910, Oliver Huckel, Richard Wagner, Siegfried: A Dramatic Poem, T.Y. Crowell Company, page 41:

Wearing the pointed helmets of the Tatars over their embroidered skull caps, mounted on shaggy ponies, armed with greatswords, disemboweling daggers, and iron-pointed whips, they swept north and west, devastating the land.

1959, Harry Gersh, These Are My People: A Treasury of Biographies of Heroes of the Jewish Spirit from Abraham to Leo Baeck, Behrman House, page 215:

Any generally straight-bladed double-edged sword large enough to require the use of two hands to wield it effectively.


guided missile

An unmanned, self-propelled vehicle that travels through the air to deliver a warhead to a predetermined point, keeping itself on course by making corrections via its control surfaces.


duck and cover

en-verb

duck and cover (third-person singular simple present ducks and covers, present participle ducking and covering, simple past and past participle ducked and covered)

ducks and covers (present singular third-person)
ducking and covering (participle present)
ducked and covered (participle past)
ducked and covered (past)

It's Christmas at ground zero / Just seconds left to go / I'll duck and cover / With my Yuletide lover / Underneath the mistletoe

1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!:

(intransitive) To duck under a surface and cover one's face with one's hands, as a means to protect oneself from flying debris etc.


nuclear-free

Free of nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power stations, especially by official declaration.


grenade launcher

en-noun

grenade launcher (plural grenade launchers)

Coordinate term: mortar

A weapon that shoots grenades from a device.


automatic rifle

automatic rifle (plural automatic rifles)

(weaponry) A rifle that loads itself either from a belt or magazine; a machine gun. (Compare fully automatic rifles vs semi-automatic rifles.)


goedendag

In the centre of the depiction there is a soldier with a goedendag. To the far right the bearer of the wine carriers' banner can be seen armed with a special sword that is very wide and ends in a sharp point, a falchion.

2002, J. F. Verbruggen, The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Courtrai, 11 July 1302): A Contribution to the History of Flanders' War of Liberation, 1297-1305, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 203:

[…] 1302, in which Flemish farmers and civilians armed with goedendags stand in battle formation. The goedendags resemble long clubs, but they have a much wider beating ring around the top and it is possible that a daring combatant […]

2010, Jan Piet Puype, Harm Stevens, Arms and Armour of Knights and Landsknechts in the Netherlands Army Museum, Eburon Uitgeverij B.V., →ISBN, page 245:

A buckler cost £1 and a goedendag cost 10 shillings. Body armor, gauntlets, armored hose,and possibly a doublet would be added to this.

2010, Randall Fegley, The Golden Spurs of Kortrijk: How the Knights of France Fell to the Foot Soldiers of Flanders in 1302, McFarland, →ISBN:

As it was he was fighting the blue-blooded French knights on foot armed with a weapon called a goedendag. The goedendag was a four-foot-long wooden pole with a heavy round steel head capped with a six-inch spike.

2019, Harry Pearson, The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman: A Bone-shaking Tour through Cycling’s Flemish Heartlands, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 76:

(historical) A club with a spike on top, used as a weapon by the militias of medieval Flanders.


reloader

(firearms) A shooter who makes their own ammunition from separately purchased components.

(firearms) The equipment used by such a shooter, particularly a levered press used to force the components together.


plastic explosive

plastic explosive (countable and uncountable, plural plastic explosives)

Any of a number of explosive materials formulated to be soft and hand malleable.


entry wound

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

(pathology, forensics) A wound caused by a bullet or other object as it enters the body, as contrasted with exit wound.


Thor's hammer

kinetic energy weapon
kinetic energy weapon

(weaponry, slang, science fiction) An orbital drop hypervelocity kinetic energy weapon (KEW). A theoretical weapon, originating from a U.S. government study, Project Thor, from the 1950s.


cannonry

cannonry (countable and uncountable, plural cannonries)

Cannons, collectively; battery of cannons.


crossguard

A bar of metal, at right-angles, between the blade and the hilt of a sword that stops an opponent's blade from sliding down and injuring the hand of the person wielding the sword.

väistin

Bar of metal, at right-angles, between the blade and the hilt of a sword.


weaponize

en-verb

weaponize (third-person singular simple present weaponizes, present participle weaponizing, simple past and past participle weaponized)

weaponizes (present singular third-person)
weaponizing (participle present)
weaponized (participle past)
weaponized (past)

From weapon + -ize. First use appears c. 1938. See cite below.

Anything can be weaponized. A big enough rock, dropped from a sufficient height, is a very good weapon.

The writer has to an unusually high degree the gift of being able to coin a telling phrase, though I do not like the verb in the sentence "However unassailable their arguments may be they could not weaponize their strength."

1938, Scottish Geographical Magazine, volume 54, page 119:

Though most Russian efforts unveiled thus far seem to have been aimed at weaponizing the far right, the existence of BlackMattersUS indicates Russian agents were equally motivated to infiltrate the far left in order to amplify partisan divides that would simultaneously energize Trump’s base and disillusion Hillary’s.

2017 October 18, Maya Kosoff, “The Russian troll farm that weaponized Facebook had American boots on the ground”, in Vanity Fair:

They have weaponized social media. They have weaponized the First Amendment. They have weaponized civic discourse. And they have weaponized, most of all, politics.

2018 August 2, Kara Swisher, “The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley”, in New York Times:


Claymore

An American-made anti-personnel mine designed to lay down a wide arc of steel ball bearings in order to inflict casualties.


interstage

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon

(military) The components of a multistage thermonuclear weapon which channel the radiation produced by the primary's fission explosion so as to trigger the implosion of the secondary and ignite a fusion explosion in the secondary's fusion fuel.


Glock

The handgun is named after Austrian engineer Gaston Glock (1929–2023).

named-after

Grab ya Glocks when you see Tupac, call the cops when you see Tupac

1996, “Hit 'em Up”, performed by Tupac Shakur:

Feel these hot rocks, fellas, put you in a dry spot, fellas / In a pine box with nine shots from my Glock, fellas

2001, “Ether”, in Stillmatic, performed by Nas:

Alex blinked her eyes open and looked up at the face of a bald man wearing pajamas. In his right hand was a pump shotgun, in his left her Glock 23.

2007, Greg Iles, True Evil, Simon and Schuster, page 279:


bolt action

A type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with a small handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon.


kirpan

Borrowed from Punjabi ਕਿਰਪਾਨ (kirpān), from Sanskrit कृपाण (kṛpāṇa, “sword, dagger, sacrificial knife”), from कल्पयति (kalpáyati, “he orders, apportions, cuts, trims”).

der

(Sikhism) A ceremonial sword that must be worn at all times by baptized Sikhs, and one of the five Ks.


cyclonite

(organic chemistry) The explosive 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine.


stutter gun

(dated, gangster, slang) A machine gun, particularly the Thompson or similar.


tetryl

en-noun

tetryl (usually uncountable, plural tetryls)

(organic chemistry) The explosive 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-methylnitramine produced by the nitration of dimethylaniline.


rolling block

A form of firearm action where the sealing of the breech is done with a specially shaped breechblock able to rotate on a pin.


stylet

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

From French stylet (“stiletto”), from Middle French stilet (“stiletto”), from Old Italian stiletto. Doublet of stiletto.


licorne

From French licorne, calque of Russian единоро́г (jedinoróg, “unicorn”).

calque

But I think our new 24-pounder howitzer will be found superior to any of them, not even excepting the Russian Licorne.

1824, “Answers of Sir A. D., K. C. B. of the Royal Artillery, to some questions from Lieutenant C. D. Bengal Artillery”, in The British Indian Military Repository, volume 3:

The Russians have a howitzer denominated licorne, the bore of which is, in its whole extent, the truncated frustrum of a cone: the only field guns in the possession of the artillery at Corfu, in 1822, were Russian guns of this description.

1837, T. F. Simmons, Ideas as to the Effect of Heavy Ordnance Directed Against and Applied by Ships of War, etc.:

Essentially a hybrid between a howitzer and a gun, thus a gun-howitzer, the licorne was capable of a flatter trajectory and a longer range than the conventional howitzer.

2007, Jeff Kinard, “Eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century artillery”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact:

(historical, military) A type of muzzle-loading gun-howitzer used by the Russian Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries.


HEU

highly-enriched uranium
highly-enriched uranium#English


(US) A lightweight assault rifle, originating from the Vietnam War period.

the primary competitor for the M-16, originating from the Communist Bloc

FN-FAL

the primary competitor for the M-16 in NATO


air pistol

A pistol that propels a pellet or other projectile by using compressed gas, rather than an explosion of gunpowder or other means.


tulwar

1863, George Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray (editors), The Cornhill Magazine, Volume 7, George Smith, page 42,
Each man carries a tulwar,‡ as well as either a carabine or lance, besides sometimes on the day of battle, pistol and dagger. In the matter of slinging the tulwar, a useful hint is afforded to our dragoon officers.

Therefore, the Havildar, taking his tulwar, smote one of us lightly on the forearm in the fat, and another on the leg, and a third on the back of the hand.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘At Howli Thana’, Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 388:

1888, Charles MacGregor, Charlotte Mary Jardine MacGregor (editor), The Life and Opinions of Major-General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, Volume 1, William Blackwood and Sons, page 64,
As I was not prepared for him (my back being partly turned to speak to my man), he was on me before I knew where I was, and had given me a cut on the head with his tulwar.

A type of curved sword used in India and throughout South Asia.


boot knife

A knife, usually with a fixed double-edged blade, that is carried inside a sheath or attached to a boot.


ANFO

The trouble, say experts who spoke on condition of anonymity, is that ANFO can be made in many different ways, and analyses of the minute molecular fragments it may yield in an explosion can produce ambiguous results.

1995 April 21, Malcolm W. Browne, “TERROR IN OKLAHOMA: THE SCIENCE; Experts Search for Debris To Link Bomb to a Suspect”, in The New York Times:

ammonium nitrate
ammonium nitrate#English

Acronym of ammonium nitrate fuel oil: an explosive made from ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil.

硝安油剤爆薬

しょうあんゆざいばくやく


raygun

(science fiction, weaponry) Alternative spelling of ray gun


railgun

[ˈɹeɪ.jəɫ.ɡʌn]

From rail + gun.
* (railway gun): From being a gun mounted on a rail car, and being railroad-mobile.
* (EM gun): From being a projectile ejecting device with a pair of electric conducting rails that a launch sled runs along, which shoots the projectile.


leade

The bullet must then jump some distance before it enters the leade of the rifling in the barrel. There is always some tendency for skidding to occur before the rifling fully engages […]

2004, Tom A. Warlow, Firearms, The Law And Forensic Ballistics, page 117:

That portion of a firearm's barrel immediately in front of the chamber where the bullet travels prior to contacting the rifling.


matching numbers

(Firearms, on a bolt action rifle), corresponding serial numbers on both the removable bolt and the frame of the rifle.

Firearms; on a bolt action rifle; Firearms; on a bolt action rifle


massive retaliation

A military doctrine and nuclear strategy by which a state commits itself to retaliate with much greater force when attacked.


war machine

/ˈwɔː məˌʃiːn/

/ˈwɔːɹ məˌʃiːn/

The German war machine was more powerful than that of the allies at the start of the war.

The Covenant war machine continues its march to conquest; even with its head severed it is still dangerous.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, published 2009 February 26, Xbox 360, level/area: Assembly:

[…] instead of dismantling the surveillance state and war machine, the Obama administration and Democrats institutionalised it – and it will soon be in the hands of a maniac.

2016 November 9, Trevor Timm, “Obama has handed a surveillance state and war machine to a maniac”, in The Guardian:

From the one million civilians killed in the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979–89) to the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who’ve perished at the receiving end of Russia’s and Assad’s war machine, the chain of impunity is long.

2019 June 28, Natalie Nougayrède, “Forget Putin’s ‘liberalism’ jibe. This man runs a war machine”, in The Guardian:

Go, Rihanna, go / Watch the fighter jet fly high / War machine gets glamorized

2023, “Namesake”, in Sundial, performed by Noname:

The military resources of a belligerent country considered as a whole.


breech-loading

(of a gun) Such that ammunition is loaded at the rear of the bore.


muzzle-loading

Describing a gun in which the ammunition is loaded at the front of the barrel


black rain

rain contaminated by fungi spores, soot, or other particulate matter


clay pigeon

The term is a remnant of the history of trap shooting. Originally, live pigeons were used as targets, but they were gradually replaced with clay disks and ultimately banned. Later, clay was replaced with more suitable raw materials.

A flying target, usually a disc, made of a mixture of pitch and pulverized limestone rock, used as moving target in sport shooting.


unrifled

(firearms) Having a bore with a smooth interior, i.e. one that has not been rifled


smoothbore

From what distance the smoothbore musket was able to fell a human target has been the source of debate for a long time.

2008, Earl J. Hess, The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat: Reality and Myth, University Press of Kansas, page 13:

(of firearms) Having a bore with a smooth interior, i.e. one that has not been rifled.


smoothbore

(firearms) A cannon, gun or other firearm that has an unrifled barrel.


chicken wing

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

(firearms) A 20th-century shooting stance where the two elbows are positioned inline with the neck.


SEATO

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
w:Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

(historical) Initialism of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, in existence from 1955 to 1977.


hypocentre

From hypo- + centre; from Ancient Greek ὑπο- (hupo-, “under-, sub-”) and Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “centre”).

derived

(military) The point on the surface below an atmospheric explosion; ground zero


yari

(weaponry) Any of various sizes of spear used in Japanese martial arts.


sica

[...] representation of a sheathed sickle on two fragments of a limestone plaque from Siristat (Figure 12). The plaque has not survived and only a sketch made by Jüthner records it. The publishers thought it showed a gladiatorial sica[…]

1996, Richard Ashton, Studies in Ancient Coinage from Turkey, British Inst of Archaeology at:

He had been honing the blades of sica daggers when Marie was brought in, work that could only be done in the secrecy of night. The huddle broke up and four Sicarii left, including the man with the nervous eyes.

2004 April 19, Junius Podrug, Dark Passage, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 302:

We growled as short sica daggers flashed from the folds of many robes.

2016 August 29, Kevin Logan, Actual Love: A Novel Inspired By True Events, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

(historical) A curved dagger used in Ancient Roman times, associated with the Thracian and Illyrians, gladiators, and Sicarii.


flechette

en-noun

flechette (countable and uncountable, plural flechettes)

From French fléchette (“small arrow”), diminutive of flèche (“arrow”).

A small sharp antipersonnel projectile, used as shrapnel, fired from a shotgun, or scattered from an aircraft.

1907, Country-side: A Wildlife Magazine, v. 5 (1907), p. 26. British Empire Naturalist's Association.
The Game of Flechette can be confidently recommended to amuse the seniors at a garden party

(dated, uncountable) The game of lawn darts.


Pathet Lao

From Lao ປະເທດລາວ (pa thēt lāo), from ປະເທດ (pa thēt, “country, state”) + ລາວ (lāo, “Lao”).

A communist nationalist movement and political party in Laos, which took power in 1975 after a civil war.


NORAD

w:North American Aerospace Defense Command

Acronym of North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Commandement de la Défense Aérospatiale de l’Amérique du Nord

北米航空宇宙防衛司令部

ほくべい こうくううちゅうぼうえいしれいぶ


conventional weapon

conventional weapon (plural conventional weapons)

Germany would agree to make no ABC (atomic, bacteriological and chemical) weapons, build only enough conventional weapons to arm its twelve divisions.

1954 October 11, “Agreement on Germany”, in Time:

A weapon of warfare which is not nuclear, chemical, biological, or radiological in nature.


traverse

en-verb

traverse (third-person singular simple present traverses, present participle traversing, simple past and past participle traversed)

traverses (present singular third-person)
traversing (participle present)
traversed (participle past)
traversed (past)

From Middle English traversen, from Old French traverser, from Latin trans (“across”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of Latin vertere (“to turn”).

to traverse a cannon

(weaponry) To rotate a gun around a vertical axis to bear upon a military target.


plasma rifle

(science fiction, weaponry) An assault rifle-styled gun that shoots plasma.


fission bomb

I heard the fission bomb test clearly and I was over a hundred miles away.

An atomic bomb that uses nuclear fission as a source of energy


fusion bomb

An atomic bomb that uses nuclear fusion as a source of energy; a hydrogen bomb


bouncing Betty

en-noun

bouncing Betty (plural bouncing Betties)

(military, informal) A land mine which is propelled a meter or two into the air before exploding to increase the amount of damage inflicted on surrounding troops.


falcata

From Spanish falcata, reportedly coined by Fernando Fulgosio modelled on Latin falcatus.

(historical) A sword in pre-Roman Iberia having a concave edge to the blade.


rocket launcher

rocket launcher (plural rocket launchers)

A hand-held tube-like device for launching a rocket-propelled explosive device (a missile).


round shot

Just then, with a roar and a whistle, a round-shot passed high above the roof of the log-house and plumped far beyond us in the wood. Treasure Island (1883), Robert Louis Stevenson

(military, weaponry) A solid, usually iron, spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.


solid shot

(military, weaponry, dated) A solid round shot or cannonball.


proximity mine

(weaponry) A mine with a proximity fuse.


nuclearize

en-verb

nuclearize (third-person singular simple present nuclearizes, present participle nuclearizing, simple past and past participle nuclearized)

nuclearizes (present singular third-person)
nuclearizing (participle present)
nuclearized (participle past)
nuclearized (past)

(transitive) To arm with nuclear weapons.


nuclearization

en-noun

nuclearization (countable and uncountable, plural nuclearizations)


fougasse

Borrowed from French fougasse. Doublet of focaccia.

An old-fashioned type of land mine, in the form of a foxhole filled with explosives or projectiles.


calling card

(World War I– World War II military slang) An explosive dropped from a bomber aeroplane.


nerve gas

United States Army chemical warfare experts said they believed it was quite possible that a gas corresponding roughly to the description of “nerve gas” might be produced under special conditions, but they had not heard that it could be successfully used in warfare.

1940 May 14, “Nazi ‘New Weapon’ Draws Skepticism”, in New York Times, page 6:

A former Japanese cult guru was sentenced to hang Friday for masterminding a sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo subway trains in 1995.

2004 February 27, George Nishiyama, “Japan Cult Guru to Hang for Sarin Nerve Gas Attack”, in Washington Post, retrieved 2008-10-02:

weapon of mass destruction
weapon of mass destruction

A toxic chemical compound and banned weapon of mass destruction which, when inhaled or ingested, impairs nervous system functions, typically causing extreme physical distress and death by asphyxiation.

عَامِل أَعْصَاب

ʕāmil ʔaʕṣāb


gigaton

A measure of the strength of an explosion or a bomb based on how many billion tons of TNT would be needed to produce the same energy.


autofire

en-verb

autofire (third-person singular simple present autofires, present participle autofiring, simple past and past participle autofired)

autofires (present singular third-person)
autofiring (participle present)
autofired (participle past)
autofired (past)

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

(video games, weaponry) To fire automatically.


main battle tank

en-noun

main battle tank (plural main battle tanks)

(military) A tank with a good balance of firepower, cross-country mobility, and armoured protection, and therefore capable of carrying out the roles of breakthrough, exploitation and infantry support.


nuclearism

The advocacy of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology for the maintenance of national security


minigun

From mini- + gun, so-called because General Electric designers scaled down the rotating-barrel 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon for 7.62×51mm ammunition (in order to create a weapon with a higher and more reliable rate of fire).

You know, what I'm actually thinking- is, if the deathclaw event actually happens, will the minigun on [that] Vertibird still be a minigun, or will it be something completely different?

2019 October 24, ISP, quoting iSorrowproductions, Fallout 4 But I Randomized EVERYTHING:

A machine gun with several rotating barrels, capable of firing several thousand rounds per minute.


punji

Ordinary punjis will penetrate thick uniforms or the upper part of a shoe.

2013, Gordon L. Rottman, World War II Allied Sabotage Devices and Booby Traps, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 19:

A sharpened stick, often made of bamboo and covered in feces or other biohazardous material, set in the ground to wound or impale enemy soldiers.


falconet

Any of various small, tropical Asian falcons of the genus Microhierax found in Southeast Asia.

sokolík

any of various small, tropical Asian falcons of the genus Microhierax found in Southeast Asia

(military, historical) A light cannon developed in the late 15th century and decorated with an image of a falcon.


chain gun

A machine gun or autocannon that uses an external power source via a continuous loop of chain.


autocannon

autocannon (plural autocannons or autocannon)

autocannons (plural)
autocannon (plural)

A fully automatic projectile weapon similar to a machine gun, but firing shells instead of bullets and larger in calibre.


subcritical

a subcritical reactor

(physics) Having insufficient mass to sustain a chain reaction


fragmentation grenade

fragmentation grenade (plural fragmentation grenades)

(military) An anti-personnel weapon, thrown or otherwise propelled, designed to disperse shrapnel upon exploding.


LRBM

long range ballistic missile
long range ballistic missile#English

(weaponry) Initialism of long range ballistic missile.


MRBM

medium range ballistic missile
medium range ballistic missile#English

(weaponry) Initialism of medium range ballistic missile.


IRBM

intermediate-range ballistic missile
w:intermediate-range ballistic missile

(weaponry) Initialism of intermediate-range ballistic missile.


SRBM

short-range ballistic missile
w:short-range ballistic missile

(weaponry) Initialism of short-range ballistic missile.


MRV

multiple reentry vehicle
multiple reentry vehicle#English

(military) Initialism of multiple reentry vehicle: the reentry capsule for a ballistic missile's payload, typically a nuclear weapon, where the missile has multiple instances of such, but can only target one site with all reentry vehicles.


SLBM

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:

ballistic missile
ballistic missile#English

(weaponry) Initialism of submarine-launched ballistic missile.


MIRV

Picking up where we had left off at Vladivostok, we discussed verification of underground nuclear tests that each side could conduct, and also the rules for counting MIRVs — how to tell whether a missile had a single or a multiple warhead. There the Soviets granted a concession. If they placed a MIRV in a certain location, then we had the right to assume that every missile in that field had a MIRV capability.

1980, Gerald Ford, A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 294:

The M.I.R.V. is a tactical nuke. Uh, fifty kilotons, nominal yield, say… five times Hiroshima.

1989, James Cameron, The Abyss (motion picture), spoken by Lt. Hiram Coffey (Michael Biehn):

(military) Initialism of multiple independently-targettable reentry vehicle; the independently targettable reentry capsule for a ballistic missile's payload, typically a nuclear weapon, where the missile has multiple instances of such.


voulge

From French voulge, vouge, of uncertain origin, but perhaps from or related to Medieval Latin vidubium. (Some references suggest a comparison to Latin vanga instead.)

(historical) A medieval poleaxe bearing resemblance to a glaive or a Lochaber ax, although the blade portion is somewhat more elongated.


anelace

Possibly from Middle English anelas, from Old French alesnaz, from alesne (“awl”), from Frankish *alisnu, *alasnu (“awl”), related to Old High German alasna, Alemannic German Alesne, Alse (“awl”); compare also Old High German āla (“awl”).


doloire

A medieval war and utility axe with a long wooden haft of 1.5 metres in length set with a blade shaped as a tear drop.


parrying dagger

parrying dagger (plural parrying daggers)

A medieval dagger usually wielded with the left hand. It was used primarily for parrying and defense, while the other hand held a longer, single handed sword like a rapier. Also known as a main gauche.


ear dagger

A medieval dagger with a distinctive ear-shaped pommel


cinquedea

/ˌt͡ʃɪŋkwɪˈdi.ə/

/ˌt͡ʃɪŋkwɪˈdeɪə/

Borrowed from Italian cinquedea (literally “five fingers”), named after its width.

bor

A short sword with a heavy blade developed in northeastern Italy during the Renaissance, often richly ornamented.


hakapik

From Norwegian Nynorsk hakapik, from hake (“hook”) + pik (“spike”).

(weaponry) A hunting implement, a long pole with a pick and hammer on the end, used by sealers to bludgeon seals and drag their carcasses to the sealing boat.


section automatic weapon

en-noun

section automatic weapon (plural section automatic weapons)

squad automatic weapon
squad automatic weapon

personal machine gun
personal machine gun

(weaponry) squad automatic weapon, a class of light machine gun; a machine gun issued to a section of troops, being heavier than the standard assault rifle and personal machine guns issued per trooper.


squad automatic weapon

squad automatic weapon (plural squad automatic weapons)

(military, weaponry) A kind of light machine gun; a machine gun issued to a squad of troops, being heavier than the standard assault rifles, personal machine guns, machine carbines, battle rifles issued per trooper.


bomblet

A small or subsidiary bomb, such as one of those released by a cluster bomb.


Garand

Borrowed from French Garand. The rifle is named after its designer, John Garand.


Garand

(informal) The M1 American semiautomatic rifle.


makhaira

(historical) A type of sword with a backwards curve, originating in Ancient Greece


denuclearization

denuclearization (countable and uncountable, plural denuclearizations)


nuclear testing

The testing of a nuclear weapons for effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability.


shooting range

A facility designed for firearms practice.

مَيْدَان رِمَايَة

a facility designed for firearms practice


sidelock

(firearms) The design of a gun that has the lockwork mounted to the inside of a plate; compare boxlock.


Weatherby eyebrow

Weatherby eyebrow (plural Weatherby eyebrows)

From the Weatherby series of firearms, noted for their large calibres and heavy recoil.

(informal, shooting) An injury caused to the shooter's face when the recoil from a powerful rifle pushes the telescopic sight forcefully against the face of the shooter.


antinuke

en-adj

antinuke (comparative more antinuke, superlative most antinuke)

more antinuke (comparative)
most antinuke (superlative)

Holly Near […] interpreter for the deaf Susan Freudlich […] and pianist J. T. Thomas […] appeared in Bostonr Nov. 28 as part of a national tour aimed at educating people about nuclear power. […] The concert was introduced by Dr. Helen Caldicott (left) author of Nuclear Madness and a founder of the anti-nuke movement in Australia.

1979 December 8, “On Tour For A Nuclear-Free Future (image caption)”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 20, page 6:


FAE

fuel-air explosive
fuel-air explosive#English

thermobaric weapon
thermobaric weapon#English

(military) Initialism of fuel-air explosive (“thermobaric weapon”).


counterproliferation

The nightmare scenario, of course, is what happens if an extremist Islamic government emerges with an instant nuclear arsenal, said Robert Joseph, a counterproliferation expert who left the administration this year.

2007 November 11, David E. Sanger, “So, What About Those Nukes?”, in New York Times:


scattergun

But in all-around use, the scattergun now ranks first across fields and forests, trap and skeet ranges.

1973 September, Gary Gillespie, “How to select a modern scattergun”, in Popular Mechanics, →ISSN, page 134:

Groundhitching the horse, he left the Winchester in the saddle boot and reached under his duster to unsling the scattergun.

1999 December 1, Jason Manning, Gun Justice: The Unforgettable Story of Texas John Slaughter, One of the Greatest Gunfighters of the Old West, Macmillan:

You ever have a staring contest with a fish? No eyelids. Kinda pointless, right? Like you reaching for that scattergun.

2013 February 21, “Relevance”, in Person of Interest, season 2, episode 16, spoken by Sam Shaw (Sarah Shahi):


scattergun

scattergun (comparative more scattergun, superlative most scattergun)

more scattergun (comparative)
most scattergun (superlative)

UKIP's Facebook approach was the most 'scattergun', posting a slew of national messages, presumably in the hope that something might impact locally.

2016, Darren G. Lilleker, Mark Pack, Political Marketing and the 2015 UK General Election, page 127:

While the use of such language in judicial reasoning is not uncommon amongst the more senior Pakistani courts, the acceptance of all pleaded grounds, no matter how 'scattergun' the approach, certainly is.

2017, Helen Stalford, Kathryn Hollingsworth, Stephen Gilmore, Rewriting Children's Rights Judgments:


RDX

Short for "research department explosive".

A high explosive used by the military and industry.


postnuclear

postnuclear pitch


superbomb

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

An extremely powerful bomb, especially the atomic bomb or hydrogen bomb.


khanda

Borrowed from Punjabi ਖੰਡਾ (khaṇḍā), from Sanskrit खड्ग (khaḍga).

(India) A double-edged sword from India, used ceremonially in Sikhism.

(India) A religious symbol of Sikhism, ⟨☬⟩, having the shape of three swords: a khanda, a chakram and two kirpans.


HEAT

(military) Acronym of high explosive antitank: a munition using a high explosive shaped charge to breach armour.


trinitite

en-noun

trinitite (usually uncountable, plural trinitites)

atomsite

melt glasses from US nuclear bomb test sites

melt glass

minerals melted by exposure to extreme heat and vitrified

kharitonchik

melt glasses from the Soviet nuke bomb Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan

impactite

metamorphic minerals caused by meteor heating of non-meteoritic materials

impact glass

melt glasses caused by meteor heating of non-meteoritic materials

fulgurite

melt glasses caused by lightning strikes

fusion crust

metamorphic minerals on the surface of meteorites caused by atmospheric entry heating

The glassy residue left on the desert floor after the Trinity nuclear bomb test of 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA.


frizzen

From earlier frizzle (noun), of unknown origin. Compare fleerish, furison.

An L-shaped piece of steel hinged at the rear used in flintlock firearms, positioned over the flash pan so to enclose a small priming charge of black powder next to the flash hole that is drilled through the barrel, such that when fired the flint scrapes it so as to create a spark.


flare gun

A large-bore pistol-like firearm used to fire signal flares.