Harquebus
//ˈhɑɹkɪbʌs// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An obsolete matchlock firearm.
"All the while they had their eye and foot so quicke and readie, that as soone as ever they saw the harquebuse raised to the cheeke, so soon were they on the ground, and eftsoone to answer with their bowes, and to the their way, if by chance they perceived that we were about to take them."
- 2 an obsolete firearm with a long barrel wordnet
- 3 A portable gun, varying in size from a small cannon to a musket. When used in the field it was supported upon a tripod or trestle.
Example
More examples"The recoil of the ponderous harquebus was too much for poor Winslow's shoulder."
Etymology
From French harquebuse, borrowed from Middle Low German hakebusse or Middle Dutch hakebus, hagebus (modern Dutch haakbus), from hôk (“hook”) + busse (“box; firelock”), from Old Saxon hōk + *buhsa, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz + *buhsā.
More for "harquebus"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.