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An ancient long-handled weapon, of which the head had a point and several long, sharp edges, curved or straight, and sometimes additional points. The heads were sometimes of very elaborate form. [Written also halbert.]

To cross; to spot; to stain; to steep. [Obs.] His weapon hatched in blood. Beau. & Fl.

The hilt of a weapon. Halliwell.

k, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt. xii. 36. Down their idle weapons dropped. Milton. This idle story became important. Macaulay.

To inclose, as with pales or stakes; to surround. Impale him with your weapons round about. Shak. Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire. Milton.

cob's membrane. See Retina. -- Jacob's staff. (a) A name given to many forms of staff or weapon, especially in the Middle Ages; a pilgrim's staff. [Obs.] Spenser. (b) (Surveying) See under Staff.

A sort of light spear, to be thrown or cast by thew hand; anciently, a weapon of war used by horsemen and foot soldiers; now used chiefly in hunting the wild boar and other fierce game. Flies the javelin swifter to its mark, Launched by the vigor of a Roman arm Addison.

The Japanese art of self-defense without weapons, now widely used as a system of physical training. It depends for its efficiency largely upon the principle of making use of an opponent's strength and weight to disable or injure him, and by applying pressure so that his opposing movement will throw him out of balance,…

nner or by any means; to render inanimate; to put to death; to slay. Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words ! Shak.

A short club with a knobbed end used as a missile weapon by Kafir and other native tribes of South Africa.

A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen, and often decorated with a small flag; also, a spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen. A braver soldier never couched lance. Shak.

A heavy weapon of the Australian aborigines with a sharp- pointed end, about nine inches in length, projecting at right angles from the main part.

To aim a gun, spear, etc., horizontally; hence, to aim or point a weapon in direct line with the mark; fig., to direct the eye, mind, or effort, directly to an object. The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife. Shak. The glory of God and the good of his church . . . ought to be the mark whereat w…

Not heavily armed; armed with light weapons; as, light troops; a troop of light horse.

Armed with light weapons or accouterments.

A weapon of war, consisting of a pole armed with an axhead at its end, formerly used by the Scotch Highlanders.

mounted on a stock; -- so called in distinction from the crossbow when both were used as weapons of war. Also, sometimes, such a bow of about the height of a man, as distinguished from a much shorter one. To draw the longbow, to tell large stories.

e walls of fortification, or in the bulkhead of a ship, through which small arms or other weapons may be discharged at an enemy.

A heavy staff or club of metal; a spiked club; -- used as weapon in war before the general use of firearms, especially in the Middle Ages, for breaking metal armor. Chaucer. Death with his mace petrific . . . smote. Milton.

A prescribed exercise in the systematic handing of a weapon; as, the manual of arms; the manual of the sword; the manual of the piece (cannon, mortar, etc.).