Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A medieval missile launcher designed on the principle of the crossbow.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • See arbalist, arbalister.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Antiq.) A 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A late form of medieval crossbow, having a steel prod, or bow.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English arblast, from Old English, from Old French arbaleste, from Late Latin arcuballista : Latin arcus, bow + Latin ballista, ballista; see ballista.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English arblast, from Old French arbaleste (modern arbalète), from Late Latin arcuballista, from Latin arcus + ballista.

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