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trebuchet

[treb-yoo-shet, treb-yoo-shet]
See more synonyms for trebuchet on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a medieval engine of war with a sling for hurling missiles.
Also tre·buck·et [tree-buhk-it, treb-yoo-ket] /ˈtriˌbʌk ɪt, ˌtrɛb yʊˈkɛt/.

Origin of trebuchet

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to trebuch(er) to overturn, fall (tre(s) across, over (< Latin trāns- trans-) + buc trunk of body < Germanic; compare Old English būc belly) + -et -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for trebuchet

slingshot, sling, pitcher, propeller, hurler, trebuchet, arbalest, shooter, tosser, ballista, heaver

Examples from the Web for trebuchet

Historical Examples of trebuchet

  • The trebuchet was a much later invented machine than the catapult, and, being built on a much larger scale, was more powerful.

    The Boy Craftsman

    A. Neely Hall

  • The trebuchet was another war machine used extensively during the Middle Ages.

  • Another variety of the trebuchet was the Biblia or Bible; but its distinctive character has not been ascertained.

  • By this means it throws with more exactness than the biffa, and to a greater distance than the trebuchet.

  • Such was the principle of the "trebuchet," the enormous engines which carried devastation and destruction to medieval castles.

    British Castles

    Charles H. Ashdown

British Dictionary definitions for trebuchet

trebuchet

trebucket (ˈtriːbʌkɪt)

noun
  1. a large medieval siege engine for hurling missiles consisting of a sling on a pivoted wooden arm set in motion by the fall of a weight

Word Origin for trebuchet

C13: from Old French, from trebuchier to stumble, from tre- trans- + -buchier, from buc trunk of the body, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German būh belly, Old English buc
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for trebuchet
n.

"medieval stone-throwing engine of war," c.1300 (in Anglo-Latin from early 13c.), from Old French trebuchet (12c.) "siege engine," from trabucher "to overturn, overthrow" (11c.), from tra- (from Latin trans-, here expressing "displacement") + Old French buc "trunk, bulk," from West Germanic *buh- (cf. German bauch "belly").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper