pistole
Americannoun
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a former gold coin of Spain, equal to two escudos.
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any of various former gold coins of Europe, as the louis d'or.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pistole
1585–95; < Middle French, back formation from pistolet the coin
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.
In a few days the company set sail for Genoa, and when they had arrived there his superior intimated that they must part, at the same time thrusting a pistole into his hand.
From Legends & Romances of Spain by Spence, Lewis
Yes, there is a poor wretch farther down nursing his arm and grumbling frightfully at his own clumsiness; but I threw him a pistole or two to buy some ointment.
From My Sword's My Fortune A Story of Old France by Hayens, Herbert
Forty-seven gaming houses at Paris, which had been licensed, and from which several magistrates drew a perquisite of a pistole or half a sovereign a day, were shut up and suppressed.
From The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume I (of II) by Steinmetz, Andrew
"Just so; and, in the mean time, I have a pistole for drink."
From The Regent's Daughter by Dumas père, Alexandre
A pistole was a gold coin used chiefly in France and Spain.
From Memoirs of a Cavalier A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany, and the Wars in England. From the Year 1632 to the Year 1648. by Defoe, Daniel
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.
