howitzer
n 1: a muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that
fires shells at high elevations for a short range [syn:
mortar, howitzer, trench mortar]
howitzer nounEtymology: Dutch houwitser, ultimately from Czech
houfnice ballista Date: 1695
a short cannon used to fire projectiles at medium muzzle velocities and
with relatively high trajectories
howitzer
(howitzers)
A howitzer is a large gun with a short barrel, which fires shells high up into the
air so that they will drop down onto the target.
N-COUNT
Howitzer \How"itz*er\, n. [G. haubitze, formerly hauffnitz,
Bohem. haufnice, orig., a sling.] (Mil.)
(a) A gun so short that the projectile, which was hollow,
could be put in its place by hand; a kind of mortar.
[Obs.]
(b) A short, light, largebore cannon, usually having a
chamber of smaller diameter than the rest of the bore,
and intended to throw large projectiles with
comparatively small charges.
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