Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



14 words match “TRIGGER”

TRIGGER n. 2 definitions
part of a lock which is moved by the finger to release the cock and discharge the piece. Trigger fish (Zoöl.), a large plectognath fish (Balistes Carolinensis or B. capriscus) common on the southern coast of the United States, and valued as a food fish in some localities. Its rough skin is used for scouring and polish…
OUTRIGGER n. 4 definitions
Any spar or projecting timber run out for temporary use, as from a ship's mast, to hold a rope or a sail extended, or from a building, to support hoisting teckle.
AIR GUN n.
r attached to the gun, by a condensing pump, and is controlled by a valve actuated by the trigger.
ARBALEST; ARBALIST n.
crossbow, consisting of a steel bow set in a shaft of wood, furnished with a string and a trigger, and a mechanical device for bending the bow. It served to throw arrows, darts, bullets, etc. [Written also arbalet and arblast.] Fosbroke.
ARQUEBUS; ARQUEBUSE n.
A sort of hand gun or firearm a contrivance answering to a trigger, by which the burning match was applied. The musket was a later invention. [Written also harquebus.]
BUMKIN n.
Onr from each quarter, for the main-brace blocks, and called brace bumpkin. (c) A small outrigger over the stern of a boat, to extend the mizzen. [Written also boomkin.]
FORE a.
In firearms, the wooden stock under the barrel, forward of the trigger guard, or breech frame. -- Fore girth, a girth for the fore part (of a horse, etc.); a martingale. -- Fore hammer, a sledge hammer, working alternately, or in time, with the hand hammer. -- Fore leg, one of the front legs of a quadruped, or multi…
GUARD n.
stock, or the lock frame, of a gun or pistol, having a loop, called a bow, to protect the trigger.
HAIR n.
A spring device used in a hair-trigger firearm.
HALFCOCK v.
) 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]
HARQUEBUS; HARQUEBUSE n.
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.
SNAP n.
A sharp, abrupt sound, as that made by the crack of a whip; as, the snap of the trigger of a gun.
TRICKER n.
A trigger. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Boyle.
TURBOT n.
The trigger fish. Spotted turbot. See Windowpane.