trebuchet
A medieval siege engine consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one endA medieval siege engine consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one end.
» A trebuchet is a siege weapon similar to a catapult.
Eine Blide ist eine Belagerungswaffe, die einem Katapult ähnelt. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
sundown · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 sensesA 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.
A torture device for dunking suspected witches by means of a chair attached to the end of a long pole.
- catapult that uses a swinging arm to throw a projectile
Examples
2 sentencesA trebuchet is a siege weapon similar to a catapult.
deEine Blide ist eine Belagerungswaffe, die einem Katapult ähnelt. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Using an eight-ton trebuchet, Tom launched Mary's bundt cake over the walls of the besieged city.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Old French trebuchet, trebuket et al. (modern trébuchet), from trebuchier (“to overthFrom 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.