harquebus

[hahr-kwuh-buh s]

noun, plural har·que·bus·es.

any of several small-caliber long guns operated by a matchlock or wheel-lock mechanism, dating from about 1400.

Nearby words

Also har·que·buse, har·que·buss, arquebus.

Origin of harquebus

1525–35; < Middle French harquebusche (with intrusive -r-) < Middle Dutch hākebusse, equivalent to hāke hook + busse gun (literally, box) < Late Latin buxis for Latin buxus box¹

Also called hackbut, hagbut.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for harquebus

At the Admiral's command the harquebus and crossbow men laid their weapons down, though watchful eye was kept.
1492|Mary Johnston
The Caliver was a kind of short musket or harquebus, fired by a matchlock, and from its lightness did not require a rest.
The Ornithology of Shakespeare|James Edmund Harting
Here's a fine blade, now, and a musket—give me a harquebus; I could shoot once, but my arm is all of a wamble now.
With Drake on the Spanish Main|Herbert Strang
For that we might have trouble, four harquebus men and four crossbows were going.
1492|Mary Johnston

Lupin thought of the Sire de Tancarville and the sentry who had killed him with a shot from his harquebus.
The Crystal Stopper|Maurice LeBlanc

British Dictionary definitions for harquebus

harquebus

noun plural -buses

a variant of arquebus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012