linstock

[ lin-stok ]

noun

1. a staff with one end forked to hold a match, formerly used in firing cannon.

linstock

/ ˈlɪnˌstɒk /

noun

1. a long staff holding a lighted match, formerly used to fire a cannon

Word History and Origins

Origin of linstock¹

1565–75; earlier lyntstock < Dutch lontstock match-stick, with lint replacing lont by association with the material commonly used as tinder

Word History and Origins

Origin of linstock¹

C16: from Dutch lontstok, from lont match + stok stick

Example Sentences

A few yards further off a coal fire is burning, at which the cannoneers are heating the ends of their long iron staves so as to use them as linstocks.

From Project Gutenberg

Through the palms he could barely discern the silhouettes of the gunners as they loitered alongside the heavy ordnance, holding lighted linstocks.

From Project Gutenberg

The deaf man maintained by his gauging-rod and linstock, which he pressed against the table, the freest intimacy with the whole club, and watched his laboring brother, to see how he sawed and balanced.

From Project Gutenberg

He applied the flaming linstock and fired the piece.

From Project Gutenberg

"I fired the cannon with the fear of death in my eyes, if I refused," said Abdalla, humbly; "and my lord should as well be wroth with the linstock as with myself."

From Project Gutenberg