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A spring device used in a hair-trigger firearm.

To set the cock of (a firearm) at the first notch. To go off halfcocked. (a) To be discharged prematurely, or with the trigger at half cock; -- said of a firearm. (b) To do or say something without due thought or care. [Colloq. or Low]

Sabbath day, to do no work therein. Jer. xvii. 24. His secret altar touched with hallowed fire. Milton. In a larger sense . . . we can not hallow this ground [Gettysburg]. A. Lincoln.

To form, or surround with, a halo; to encircle with, or as with, a halo. The fire That haloed round his saintly brow. Sothey.

n; to decline; as, to hang down the head, or, elliptically, to hang the head. -- To hang fire (Mil.), to be slow in communicating fire through the vent to the charge; as, the gun hangs fire; hence, to hesitate, to hold back as if in suspense.

A firearm with match holder, trigger, and tumbler, made in the second half of the 15th century. the barrel was about forty inches long. A form of the harquebus was subsequently called arquebus with matchlock.

That which hastens; especially, a stand or reflector used for confining the heat of the fire to meat while roasting before it.

The pavement or floor of brick, stone, or metal in a chimney, on which a fire is made; the floor of a fireplace; also, a corresponding part of a stove. There was a fire on the hearth burning before him. Jer. xxxvi. 22. Where fires thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept. There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry. Shak…

Stone forming the hearth; hence, the fireside; home. Chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone. A. Lincoln.

s, but especially in the phenomena of fusion and evaporation, and which, as manifested in fire, the sun's rays, mechanical action, chemical combination, etc., becomes directly known to us through the sense of feeling. In its nature heat is a mode if motion, being in general a form of molecular disturbance or vibration.…

icines or applications. Heating surface (Steam Boilers), the aggregate surface exposed to fire or to the heated products of combustion, esp. of all the plates or sheets that are exposed to water on their opposite surfaces; -- called also fire surface.

guns. (b) Troops which serve heavy guns. -- Heavy cavalry. See under Cavalry. -- Heavy fire (Mil.), a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms. -- Heavy metal (Mil.), large guns carrying balls of a large size; also, large balls for such guns. -- Heavy metals. (Chem.) See under Metal. -- H…

See St. Elmo's fire, under Saint.

f cork, felt, metal, or other suitable material, worn as part of the uniform of soldiers, firemen, etc., also worn in hot countries as a protection from the heat of the sun.

Having abundance of mettle; ardent; full of fire; as, a high- mettled steed.

Full of spirit or natural fire; haughty; courageous; impetuous; not brooking restraint or opposition.

The flat projection or iron shelf at the side of a fire grate, where things are put to be kept warm. Smart.

A cake of Indian meal, water, and salt, baked before the fire or in the ashes; -- so called because often cooked on a hoe. [Southern U.S.]

A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews and some pagan nations. Milton.

Of or pertaining to the home or family. Fireside enjoyments, homeborn happiness. Cowper.