snaphaunce
[ snap-hans, -hahns ]
noun
an early flintlock mechanism for igniting a charge of gunpowder in a gun.
Origin of snaphaunce
1First recorded in 1580–90; from Dutch snaphaan (or German Schnapphahn ) originally, “highwayman,” equivalent to snap(pen) “to snatch” + haan “rooster” (Dutch haan, German Hahn, parallel to English cock meaning both “rooster” and “hammer of a firearm”); source of the final s sound unclear; see snap, cock1
Words Nearby snaphaunce
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use snaphaunce in a sentence
There were also matchlocks, snaphaunce pieces, pistols, swords and hangers (cutlasses).
Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century | Annie Lash JesterThe “snaphaunce” or fire-lock, is distinctly stated by Grose to be of Dutch origin,—hence the name.
Gunnery in 1858 | William GreenerTextual remarks Page 12, snaphaunce is not a Dutch word; it is derived from the Dutch snaphaan.
Gunnery in 1858 | William GreenerCotgrave has arquebuse à fusil, "a snaphaunce," and explains fusil as "a fire-steele for a tinder-box."
The Romance of Words (4th ed.) | Ernest WeekleyI have a couple of wheel locks, to start with, and three miguelet-locks and an Italian snaphaunce.
Murder in the Gunroom | Henry Beam Piper
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