Definition of "grapeshot" [grape•shot]

• A cluster of small iron balls formerly used as a cannon charge. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There were three varieties of this: for long-range work (up to 600 yards) a smaller number of larger balls were contained in the tin (sometimes referred to as grapeshot); for closer ranges, more numerous but smaller projectiles were packed into the container (sometimes termed langridge); and a third type, called “bar shot,” consisted of a solid iron bar running down the center of the tin with musket balls packed around it."
• "Marchons! "and at every word grapeshot fell to the ground, for the Colonel, in spite of the suggestions of war, was peacefully engaged, being seated on the top of a pair of steps thinning out the grapes which hung from the roof."
• ""Armies still use what we could call grapeshot in tank rounds, which fire what is effectively ball bearings."