pistol
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a short-barrelled handgun
-
to threaten a person in order to force him to do what one wants
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pistol
1560–70; < Middle French pistole < German, earlier pitschal, pitschole, petsole < Czech píšt’ala literally, pipe, fife, whistle (presumably a slang term for a type of light harquebus employed during the Hussite wars), akin to pištět to squeak, peep
Compare meaning
How does pistol compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A pistol is a small handgun. Unlike a shotgun or a rifle, you can hold and fire a pistol with one hand. Sometimes the word pistol is used for any handgun, but many people distinguish between the pistol, with its single chamber, and the revolver, which has a cylinder that rotates and holds many bullets. The earliest pistols were used in sixteenth century Europe, and the English word comes from the Middle French pistolet, meaning both "small firearm" and "small dagger." You can also call someone who's full of energy a pistol.
Vocabulary lists containing pistol
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This appeal verdict will decide Le Pen's political future and in effect fire the starting pistol on the presidential race.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
“It’s like trying to govern with a pistol pointed at your neck,” said former lawmaker Juan Contreras.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Investigators obtained camera footage from the shop showing a young man emerging after buying the gun, a Taurus 9 mm pistol, to make a call on his cellphone.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
AK-style pistol — and authorities also seized ammunition from his place of business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
Even if poor, the men were decent, worthy of respect, accomplished in the manly arts of riding and pistol shooting, but not reckless with either animals or firearms.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Starmer, speaking to British reporters on his flight home, said the pistols were inscribed with the name of each leader and accompanied by a box of ammunition.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Spectators are being encouraged to arrive on foot or by public transport, and bring their buckets and water pistols too, of course.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
A prominent heating stove will become as much a part of Hedda’s arsenal as her precious pistols.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
Today, its pistols, shotguns and other weaponry are used by militaries and hobbyists around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Crazy Horse and his men fired their pistols at the soldiers.
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
The movie was Red River, a western version of Mutiny on the Bounty with the range as the ocean and John Wayne as a pistoled and Stetsoned Captain Bligh.
From Time Magazine Archive
While scurrying water rats squeaked from the walls, pistoled their water, and ran for more.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
We have counted eighteen hundred odd From Benavente hither, pistoled thus.
From The Dynasts by Hardy, Thomas
They suddenly left the bridge, to disappear in the forecastle for a few moments, then to reappear—each man belted and pistoled, and one bringing an outfit to Forsythe on the bridge.
From The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility by Robertson, Morgan
Brown as a coffee-berry, rugged, pistoled, spurred, wary, indefeasible, I saw my old friend, Deputy-Marshal Buck Caperton, stumble, with jingling rowels, into a chair in the marshal's outer office.
From Roads of Destiny by Henry, O.
This pistoling of Colonel Washington by the British commander skimmed a little of the cream from our great and glorious victory.
From The Master of Appleby A Novel Tale Concerning Itself in Part with the Great Struggle in the Two Carolinas; but Chiefly with the Adventures Therein of Two Gentlemen Who Loved One and the Same Lady by Lynde, Francis
No body of rough, uncouth, pistolled ruffians, such as Bret Harte depicts the miners, would have formed such a group of benevolent, far-reaching and comprehensive laws.
From A Tramp Through the Bret Harte Country by Beasley, Thomas Dykes
That would ha’ been flat mutiny; and remember his name was on the ship’s books as first officer, and he might have pistolled us every one and had the law on his side.
From Athelstane Ford by Upward, Allen
Kearney looked from one to the other, fairly pistolling his scrutiny.
From Officer 666 by Currie, Barton Wood
"I doubt much whether it was quite wise of you, assuming that you expected to find me here, to have come without that pistolling retinue with which you provided yourself last time."
From The Light of Scarthey by Castle, Egerton
"What are you pistolling, Larry?" said a familiar voice close by his elbow, and he saw his master, accompanied by a handsome young man in a cloak.
From J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 2 by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan
Now when Macaulay advances with his hectoring sentences and his rough pistolling ways, we feel all the time that his pulse is as steady as that of the most practised duellist who ever ate fire.
From Critical Miscellanies, Volume I (of 3) Essay 4: Macaulay by Morley, John
Even those who did not quarrel with his views sometimes, before Sir George Trevelyan's book, disliked and regretted what have been called his "pistolling ways"—the positive, hectoring "hold-your-tongue" sort of tone which dominated his productions.
From A Letter Book Selected with an Introduction on the History and Art of Letter-Writing by Saintsbury, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
