Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A spring-lock of a gun or pistol.
- noun Hence A hand-gun or a pistol made to be fired by flint and steel.
- noun A snappish retort; a curt or sharp answer; a repartee.
- Snappish; retorting sharply.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A spring lock for discharging a firearm; also, the firearm to which it is attached.
- noun obsolete A trifling or second-rate thing or person.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
spring lock for discharging afirearm . - noun The
firearm to which it is attached. - noun obsolete A
trifling orsecond-rate thing or person.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the late sixteenth century, gunsmiths developed a new lock called a snaphance.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
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In the late sixteenth century, gunsmiths developed a new lock called a snaphance.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
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A number of the parts are identical in apprearance to a snaphance, which is a form of early flint lock where the pan cover and the steel are separate.
roland Diary Entry roland 2005
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The snaphance was a slight improvement upon the wheel-lock.
Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02 Samuel de Champlain 1601
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The principle of the snaphance in turn was simplified by the invention of the flintlock, which combined the metal platen and the priming pan cover in one piece.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
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The principle of the snaphance in turn was simplified by the invention of the flintlock, which combined the metal platen and the priming pan cover in one piece.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
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I originally thought the lock may have been refit from an older snaphance, but closer examination suggests it was originally constructed the way it is now.
roland Diary Entry roland 2005
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Jamie drew the snaphance pistol from his belt and checked the loading of it, casually, as though there were all the time in the world.
Dragonfly in Amber Gabaldon, Diana 1992
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Pressing the snaphance of his musket, he fired into the oncoming savages, but failed to hit one.
The Princess Pocahontas Virginia Watson 1904
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They were apparently fairly well supplied with them, of either the "matchlock" or "snaphance"
The Mayflower and Her Log; July 15, 1620-May 6, 1621 — Complete Azel Ames 1876
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