crossbow

noun

cross·​bow ˈkrȯs-ˌbō How to pronounce crossbow (audio)
: a weapon for shooting quarrels and stones that consists chiefly of a short bow mounted crosswise near the end of a stock

Illustration of crossbow

Illustration of crossbow

Examples of crossbow in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The town was in decline as a center of the wool trade but alive with the mayhem of some fifteen hundred young men—loosely supervised, theoretically celibate, armed with crossbows—the scholars of the university. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2024 Officers were called to an address in Bywater Place in southeast London at around 4.55 a.m. local time (11.55 p.m. Monday ET) after occupants reported that a man armed with weapons including a crossbow was attempting to force his way in, said the city’s Metropolitan Police. Jack Guy, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024 There is typically a trade-off between a projectile's mass and its launch speed, with, for example, heavier arrows fired by a crossbow moving more slowly than lighter arrows. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 28 Aug. 2023 All but one had been starved. Inside the shed, police investigators found a machete, a homemade electrical prod, crossbow arrows, aluminum bats, and several other weapons. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2024 Similar to cellular trail cameras and crossbows, the technology has been met with resistance by a certain faction who contends that drones offer hunters an unfair advantage and could lead to a number of unethical scenarios. Hayden Sammak, Outdoor Life, 8 Feb. 2024 On the day the sale was to take place, the victim was setting up a target so the suspect could try out the crossbow. Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 5 Jan. 2024 Loading the crossbow inside the old, weathered ground blind was difficult without alerting the buck. Outdoor Life, 8 Nov. 2023 Neumann noted that Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would raise the cost of a nonresident bow and crossbow deer hunting license by an additional $35 to $200. Todd Richmond, Twin Cities, 24 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crossbow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of crossbow was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near crossbow

Cite this Entry

“Crossbow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crossbow. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

crossbow

noun
cross·​bow -ˌbō How to pronounce crossbow (audio)
: a short bow mounted crosswise near the end of a wooden stock that shoots short arrows

More from Merriam-Webster on crossbow

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