Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A weapon somewhat resembling a crossbow, for shooting stones; a catapult; also, a sort of toy.

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

  • noun A kind of crossbow formerly used for shooting stones.

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

  • noun historical A kind of crossbow used for shooting stones.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

stone +‎ bow

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Examples

  • Then 1 James I.c. 29 awarded three months 'imprisonment "without bail or mainprise" to any person who should "shoot at, kill, or destroy with any gun, crossbow, stonebow, or longbow, any house-dove or pigeon," but allowed an alternative fine of twenty shillings to be paid to the churchwardens of the parish for the benefit of the poor.

    Daddy Darwin's Dovecot: A Country Tale 1881

  • "Snipes!" says Bridget; "deft art thou, fosterling, to take them without either springe or stonebow, and they all flittering like butterflies on a March day."

    The Sundering Flood William Morris 1865

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