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 are of solid wood, and used without the throwing stick.

From A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 1 by Flinders, Matthew

It was a throwing stick consisting of two parts.

From The Hohokam Dig by Pratt, Theodore