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pistol

 - 5 dictionary results

pis⋅tol

  [pis-tl] noun, verb, -toled, -tol⋅ing or (especially British) -tolled, -tol⋅ling.
Use pistol in a Sentence
–noun
1. a short firearm intended to be held and fired with one hand.
–verb (used with object)
2. to shoot with a pistol.
Origin:
1560–70; < MF pistole < G, earlier pitschal, pitschole, petsole < Czech píšt’ala lit., pipe, fife, whistle (presumably a slang term for a type of light harquebus employed during the Hussite wars), akin to pištět to squeak, peep

Related forms:
pis⋅tol⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pistol
pis·tol   (pĭs'təl)   
n.  A firearm designed to be held and fired with one hand.
tr.v.   pis·toled, pis·tol·ing, pis·tols
To shoot with such a handgun.

[French pistole, from German, from Middle High German pischulle, from Czech píšt'ala, pipe, whistle, firearm, from pištěti, to whistle, of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
pistol

  1. n.
    a person who is bright, quick, or energetic. (Implying hot as a pistol or quick as a pistol.) : Ask that pistol to step over here for a minute, would you?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

pistol 
"small hand-held firearm," c.1570, from M.Fr. pistole "short firearm" (1566), of uncertain origin, sometimes said to be from Ger. Pistole, from Czech pis'tala "firearm," lit. "tube, pipe," from pisteti "to whistle," of imitative origin, related to Rus. pischal "shepherd's pipe." But earlier form pistolet (1550) is from M.Fr. pistolet "a small firearm," also "a small dagger," which may be the literal sense; though some connect this word with It. pistolese, in reference to Pistoia, town in Tuscany noted for gunsmithing. Pistol-whip is first recorded 1942.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

pistol
[IBM] A tool that makes it all too easy for you to shoot yourself in the foot. "Unix "rm *" makes such a nice pistol!"
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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