Musket
['mʌskɪt]
Definition
(noun.) a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen.
Typist: Shelby--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The male of the sparrow hawk.
(n.) A species of firearm formerly carried by the infantry of an army. It was originally fired by means of a match, or matchlock, for which several mechanical appliances (including the flintlock, and finally the percussion lock) were successively substituted. This arm has been generally superseded by the rifle.
Checked by Klaus
Definition
n. any kind of smooth-bore military hand-gun: a male sparrow-hawk.—ns. Musketeer′ a soldier armed with a musket; Musketoon′ Musquetoon′ a short musket: one armed with a musketoon.—adj. Mus′ket-proof capable of resisting the force of a musket-ball.—ns. Mus′ket-rest a fork used as a support for the heavy 16th-century musket—also Croc; Mus′ketry muskets in general; practice with muskets: a body of troops armed with muskets; Mus′ket-shot the discharge of a musket the reach of a musket.
Edited by Dwight
Examples
- As it was, she merely stipulated, If you bring the boy back with his head blown to bits by a musket, don't look to me to put it together again. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I ate them by two or three at a mouthful, and took three loaves at a time, about the bigness of musket bullets. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- While I was at West Point the tactics used in the army had been Scott's and the musket the flint lock. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I had scarcely left when a musket ball entered the room, struck the head of the sofa, passed through it and lodged in the foot. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- A musket is a more expensive machine than a javelin or a bow and arrows; a cannon or a mortar, than a balista or a catapulta. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- On the contrary, the cannon was the predecessor of the musket and its successors. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The only proviso that Justinian made was that the women, on their arrival, should keep out of musket-shot and not risk their lives. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- It seems that the musket had been run over by a handcar, which slightly bent the long barrel, but not sufficiently for an amateur like Fox to notice. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- I require little sleep, and it pleases me on a fine night to wander for an hour or two with my musket about the hollow. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I should not mind taking my turn to watch the mill one of these summer nights, armed with your musket, Joe. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- A splashing and a tramping; a hurrahing, uproaring, musket-volleying; the truest segment of Chaos seen in these latter Ages! H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- As the arquebus succeeded the bow and arrow, so the musket, a smooth and single-barrel muzzle-loader with a flint-lock and a wooden ramrod, succeeded the arquebus. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Other men enter the arena on foot, armed with red flags and explosives about the size of a musket cartridge. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The ammunition carried with them was two hundred rounds for musket and gun. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- As the balls are made to slip into the barrels easily, they can be loaded as readily as the common musket: and they will carry three times the distance, with much more certainty. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Spain had 10,000 muskets to modernize by the same system, and the breech-block attachments were made at Ilion. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The night was so dark that the men could not distinguish one from another except by the light of the flashes of their muskets. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Hears his number called, hears himself challenged, hears the rattle of the muskets, hears the orders 'Make ready! Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He imitated the action of a man's being impelled forward by the butt-ends of muskets. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The soldiers had their muskets, but no ammunition, while there were tons of it close at hand. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- This was accomplished for the first time in America at the Remington plant, in making Harper’s Ferry muskets. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The infantry with their muzzle-loading muskets could not keep up a steady enough fire to wither determined cavalry before it charged home. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Deep ditch, single drawbridge, massive stone walls, eight great towers, cannon, muskets, fire and smoke. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- Vot for should any man vont fore to see great many muskets, all put straight togeter fore to do noting? Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Muskets with straight grooves are said to have been used in the fifteenth century. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The soldiers thought I wanted to leave the city, and they sprang up and barred the way with their muskets. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Muskets were thrust into the carriage: Your passports? H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The infantry under General Taylor was armed with flint-lock muskets, and paper cartridges charged with powder, buck-shot and ball. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- His men resumed their muskets and fell in. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- The wooden walls of the navies disappeared as a defence after the conflict between the Monitor and the Merrimac, and muzzle-loading muskets became things of the past. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
Typist: Manfred