firelock
English
Etymology
From fire + lock.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfaɪəlɒk/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfaɪ(ə)ɹˌlɑk/
- Hyphenation: fire‧lock
Noun
firelock (plural firelocks)
- (historical) A form of gunlock, in which the priming is ignited by a spark. [from 16th c.]
- (by extension, historical) A firearm using such a gunlock. [from 17th c.]
- 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], OCLC 1090970992, pages 76–77:
- He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean well-oiled fowing-piece, he found an old firelock lying by him, the barrel encrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten.
- 1824, Town and Country Tales, page 115:
- Alfred, surprised to meet his father, whom he thought absent from home, […] stood, holding his firelock in one hand, and his hat in the other […]
- 1999, Mike Mitchell, translating Jakob Grimmelshausen, Simplicius Simplicissimus, Dedalus 2016, p. 48:
- Before we were out of the forest, however, we saw about ten peasants, some armed with firelocks [translating Feuer-rohren], others busy burying something.
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Translations
form of gunlock
|
firearm using such a gunlock
References
- firelock in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- flockier