Minié ball

American  

[min-ee, min-ee-ey, mee-nyey] / ˈmɪn i, ˈmɪn iˌeɪ, miˈnyeɪ /

noun

1. a conical bullet with a hollow base that expanded when fired, used in the 19th century.

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Minié ball British  

/ ˈmɪnɪˌeɪ, miɲe /

noun

1. a conical rifle bullet, used in the 19th century, manufactured with a hollow base designed to expand when fired to fit the rifling

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Etymology

Origin of Minié ball

1855–60; named after C. E. Minié (1814–79), French officer who invented it

Example Sentences

Invented by the Frenchman Claude-Etienne Minié, the Minié ball was a cone-shaped ball of lead with a hollow base.

From Slate • Aug. 21, 2015

Minié ball from hundreds of bullets stashed in front of our counter and wondered whether my grandfather knew what he was signing us up for when he found his first one.

From Time • Jun. 30, 2015

Common hunting-rifles were bored out to carry a Minié ball, twenty to the pound, and sword-bayonets fitted to them.

From Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army Being a Narrative of Personal Adventures in the Infantry, Ordnance, Cavalry, Courier, and Hospital Services; With an Exhibition of the Power, Purposes, Earnestness, Military Despotism, and Demoralization of the South by Stevenson, William G.

Miraculous to remark, the British Government for once appear to have appreciated a useful invention, and various experiments with the Minié ball were carried on with an energy so unusual as to be startling.

From Lands of the Slave and the Free Cuba, the United States, and Canada by Murray, Henry A.

The leading objection to the Minié ball in this form was that the device did its work too thoroughly.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875 by Various