snaphaunce
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of snaphaunce
First recorded in 1580–90; from Dutch snaphaan (or German Schnapphahn ) originally, “highwayman,” equivalent to snap(pen) “to snatch” + haan “rooster” ( Dutch haan, German Hahn, parallel to English cock meaning both “rooster” and “hammer of a firearm”); source of the final s sound unclear; see snap, cock 1
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.
It was like reintroducing the matchlock or the snaphaunce, but Ruger doted on the single-shot, and that was that.
From Time Magazine Archive
Down he gets from the saddle and me by the collar, and claps a great snaphaunce under my nose.
From Black Bartlemy's Treasure by Farnol, Jeffery
I have a couple of wheel locks, to start with, and three miguelet-locks and an Italian snaphaunce.
From Murder in the Gunroom by Piper, H. Beam
Cotgrave has arquebuse à fusil, "a snaphaunce," and explains fusil as "a fire-steele for a tinder-box."
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
By 1625, however, the picture had changed, for the wheel-lock, snaphaunce, and “doglock,” were being used in large numbers, and the matchlock had become obsolete.
From New Discoveries at Jamestown Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America by Cotter, John L.
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.
