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

See Examples For:

throwing stick

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

As soon as he came to the surface, his father rowed to where he was, but every time he took his throwing stick to cast a small harpoon, he disappeared.

From Eskimo Folk-Tales by Worster, W. J. Alexander (William John Alexander)

Here he put into action another of the primitive weapons Thorvald had devised, a spear hurled with a throwing stick, giving it double range and twice as forceful penetration power.

From Storm Over Warlock by Norton, Andre