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Definition of "linstock" [lin•stock]

  • A long forked stick for holding a match, formerly used to fire cannon. (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.

Use "linstock" in a sentence
  • "When Raphael describes the artillery used in Heaven, he speaks of cannon balls as "iron globes" and "balls of missive ruin," and calls the linstock the "incentive reed pernicious," thereby perhaps drawing attention to the strange character of the new invention."
  • "I should have also made a linstock out of wire with florists wire wrapped around the stick, but I forgot to do this."
  • "It was the difference between a cannon lying quiet in its embrasure, and the same gun when touched by the linstock."