matchlock
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈmatʃlɒk/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈmætʃlɑk/
Noun

matchlock (plural matchlocks)

  1. Early type of firearm, using a smoldering piece of cord to fire the powder in the firing pan.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘Dray Wara Yow Dee’, Black and White, Folio Society 2004, vol. 1, p. 372:
      I crept silently up the hill-road, but the fuse of my matchlock was wetted with the rain, and I could not slay Daoud Shah from afar.
  2. The gunlock used in such a weapon, having a slow smouldering match, see: slow match.



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