throwing stick

American  

noun

1. a short, straight or curved stick, flat or cylindrical in form, often having a hand grip, and used generally in preliterate societies as a hunting weapon to throw at birds and small game.

2. Australian. a boomerang.

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throwing stick British  

noun

1. a primitive device for hurling a spear with greater leverage, consisting of a rod with a groove in it and a hook or projection at the back end to hold the weapon until its release

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Etymology

Origin of throwing stick

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Spears and a double-pointed throwing stick were found lying between animal bones about ten meters below the surface in deposits at a former lakeshore.

From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024

Locals believe it portrays an Aboriginal man carrying a woomera - a throwing stick - in his left hand.

From BBC • Jun. 26, 2018

Pinto Man did his hunting with a "throwing stick" which projected stone-tipped spears.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their spears and waddas are much the same as at Sydney, they don't use the throwing stick.

From The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson With the journal of her first commander Lieutenant James Grant by Lee, Ida

With nothing but their whale spears tipped with slate, two men will run close up to a whale, drive two spears home with a throwing stick, and make off again.

From American Big Game in Its Haunts by Various