pistol
Americannoun
-
pistols
plural
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:
They didn’t locate any weapons, but they did find a pair of detached pistol magazines.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
He has the biggest smile on his face and a water pistol loaded with paint.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Los Angeles police officers shot at a man wielding a water pistol Monday in South Park, the department said in a news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Officials searched his vehicle and said they found a loaded pistol and magazine, in addition to a magazine they said he was carrying in his pocket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
“You’re bluffing,” said Geels, but his pistol hand was trembling.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
When they finally returned, Roebuck realized he was missing four pistols from his safe.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
When authorities searched Michael Abatti’s properties, they took possession of more than three dozen firearms including more than two dozen rifles, as well as shotguns, pistols and revolvers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
She was attending an event, along with her father, at a "major munitions factory" that produces new pistols and other "portable light arms", Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 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
They said there’d been two white twins from America riding ’round Chatham on two white stallions whilst toting two of the fanciest pearl-handle, silver-plate pistols just like the one the Preacher said he found.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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
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 Morgan Robertson
We have counted eighteen hundred odd From Benavente hither, pistoled thus.
From The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy
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 O. Henry
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 Francis Lynde
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 Thomas Dykes Beasley
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 Allen Upward
Kearney looked from one to the other, fairly pistolling his scrutiny.
From Officer 666 by Barton Wood Currie
"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 Egerton Castle
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 George Saintsbury
"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 Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
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 John Morley
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