Search the Dictionary

bout twelve feet long, with an iron hook at one end a handle at the other, used in firing cannon with a friction tube.

and a shaft to which the horses are attached. On top is an ammunition box upon which the cannoneers sit.

A pointed forked staff, shod with iron at the foot, to hold a lighted match for firing cannon. [Written also lintstock.]

A form of cannon formerly in use. Prescott. Lombard Street, the principal street in London for banks and the offices of note brokers; hence, the money market and interest of London.

The match cord formerly used in firing cannon.

A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.

To move, or manage, by human force without mechanical aid; as, to manhandle a cannon.

ng of a weapon; as, the manual of arms; the manual of the sword; the manual of the piece (cannon, mortar, etc.).

twine, filled with an explosive, and ignited with a fuse, -- used to make a noise like a cannon. [Written also maroon.]

matches. -- Match tub, a tub with a perforated cover for holding slow matches for firing cannon, esp. on board ship. The tub contains a little water in the bottom, for extinguishing sparks from the lighted matches. -- Quick match, threads of cotton or cotton wick soaked in a solution of gunpowder mixed with gum arabi…

Originally, a wig; afterwards, a mop for cleaning cannon.

ss measuring a minute or minutes by the running of sand. -- Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute as a sign of distress or mourning. -- Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.

Shot or bits of iron used sometimes in loading cannon.

A small cannon, formerly used for clearing a ship's decks of boarders; -- called also murdering piece. [Obs.]

To spike, as a cannon. [Obs.] Crabb. To nail a lie or an assertion, etc., to detect and expose it, so as to put a stop to its currency; -- an expression probably derived from the former practice of shopkeepers, who were accustomed to nail bad or counterfeit pieces of money to the counter.

Ordnance; cannon. [Obs.] Shak.

Heavy weapons of warfare; cannon, or great guns, mortars, and howitzers; artillery; sometimes, a general term for all weapons and appliances used in war. All the battlements their ordnance fire. Shak. Then you may hear afar off the awful roar of his [Rufus Choate's] rifled ordnance. E. Ererett. Ordnance survey, the off…

A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, of a multitude, etc. "A fair peal of artillery." Hayward. Whether those peals of praise be his or no. Shak. And a deep thunder, peal on peal, afar. Byron.

A sort of hand cannon, or portable firearm, used in France in the 15th century.

A musket, gun, or cannon; as, a battery of six pieces; a following piece.