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trebuchet

noun
/ˈtɹɛbəʃɛt/UK/ˈtɹɛb.juˌʃɛt/US

Etymology

From Old French trebuchet, trebuket et al. (modern trébuchet), from trebuchier (“to overthrow, topple”), from tres- + *buchier, from Old French buc (“trunk of the body”), from Old Frankish *būk (“belly, trunk, torso”), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, abdomen, trunk”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). Cognate with Old High German būh (“belly”), Old English būc (“belly, trunk”). More at bouk.

  1. derived from *bʰōw-✻ — “to blow, swell”
  2. derived from *būkaz✻ — “belly, abdomen, trunk”
  3. derived from *buk✻ — “belly, trunk, torso”
  4. derived from buc — “trunk of the body”
  5. derived from trebuchet

Definitions

  1. A medieval siege engine consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one end.

    • Medieval trebuchets are said to have been capable of launching 90-kg projectiles over distances of more than 300 meters.

  2. A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of…

    A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of a long pole.

  3. To shoot with a trebuchet.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for trebuchet. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA