spear-thrower
a flexible device for launching a spear, usually a short cord wound around the spear so that when thrown the weapon will rotate in the air.
Also called atlatl. a rigid device for increasing the speed and distance of a spear when thrown, usually a flat wooden stick with a handhold and a peg or socket to accommodate the butt end of the spear.
Origin of spear-thrower
1Words Nearby spear-thrower
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use spear-thrower in a sentence
King Theodore was a celebrated spear thrower; it is said he could make sure of a man at thirty yards or more.
Sport in Abyssinia | Dermot MayoBeside him lay his flaked-stone ax, his bone-pointed spear and spear thrower, likewise preserved by a marvelous chemistry.
The Record of Currupira | Robert AbernathySpears and wooden clubs are universal, and the use of the spear-thrower is generally distributed.
Man, Past and Present | Agustus Henry KeaneAre the spear-thrower and the bull-roarer inevitably thought of as alive?
Anthropology | Robert MarettBut it is quite otherwise with his spear-thrower or his bull-roarer.
Anthropology | Robert Marett
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