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Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A crossbow used in Europe in the chase and in war throughout the middle ages. The bow was made of steel, horn, or other material, and was of such great strength and stiffness that some mechanical appliance was used to bend it and adjust the string to the notch. The lighter arbalists, used in the chase, and generally by horsemen, required a double hook, which the arbalister carried at his girdle. Heavier ones required a kind of lever, or a windlass, or a revolving winch with a ratchet and long handle, to draw them; these appliances were separate from the arbalist, and were carried slung from the shoulder or at the belt. The short and heavy arrow of the arbalist was called a quarrel, from its square head, or more commonly a bolt, as distinguished from the shaft discharged by the longbow. Sometimes stones (see stone-bow) and leaden balls were used. The missile of the arbalist was discharged with such force as to penetrate ordinary armor, and the weapon was considered so deadly as to be prohibited by a council of the church except in warfare against infidels. It could, however, be discharged only twice a minute. It was used especially in the attack and defense of fortified places. For similar weapons of other periods than the European middle ages, see crossbow. Also arcubalist, and formerly arblast.
  2. n. In heraldry, a crossbow used as a bearing.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Alternative form of arbalest.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles

Examples

  • “So when the squadrons were arranged in the wedge, he stood himself behind the warriors, and from the wallet which was slung round his neck drew an arbalist.”

    The Danish History, Books I-IX

  • “Earthenware jars containing it were to be flung by hand or arbalist, and darts and arrows were wrapped with tow soaked in the substance.”

    A History of Sea Power

  • “In the meantime here is Wat with his arbalist and a bolt in his girdle.”

    Sir Nigel

  • “Let us at least go back, fill up once more, and raise a mantelet against the bolts, for they have an arbalist which shoots both straight and hard.”

    Sir Nigel

  • “Betwixt the third couple of towers were the butts for arquebus, crossbow, and arbalist.”

    The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

  • “Another name for the crossbow was 'arbalist,' and its arrows were called quarils, or bolts.”

    Chatterbox, 1906

  • “In the rencounters to which I am going -- the sorties, the assaults, the duels single and in force, the exchanges with all arms, bow, arbalist, guns small and great, the mines and countermines -- you cannot stay out.”

    The Prince of India — Volume 02

  • “But the strangest thing about them was, that in every picture the canvas about the head was pricked through and through in scores of places with very fine clean holes, and, looking around in his marvel, he found an arbalist or cross-bow, with some very sharp bolts, and was so led to conjecture that some one had been setting these heads of the Protector up as a target, and shooting bolts at them.”

    The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 1 of 3 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors...

  • “[85] Their encounter was varied, and balanced by the contrast of arms and discipline; of the direct charge, and wheeling evolutions; of the couched lance, and the brandished javelin; of a weighty broadsword, and a crooked sabre; of cumbrous armor, and thin flowing robes; and of the long Tartar bow, and the arbalist or crossbow, a deadly weapon, yet unknown to the Orientals.”

    History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 5

  • “On the one side there stood a cruel man with a loaded arbalist aimed at his heart: on the other stood another holding a terrible and fierce dog which, had he let it, would have torn the king to pieces in a moment; and thus they tortured him to make him disclose the treasures; until a Franciscan monk, being informed of it, delivered him from their hands, though he died at last of his tortures.”

    Bartholomew de Las Casas; his life, apostolate, and writings

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hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. engine

reverse dictionary (14)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. arbalète
  2. arbalister
  1. arblast
  2. arcubalist
  1. manubalist
  2. shot-crossbow
  1. arbalistry
  2. arbalest
  1. balister
  2. cranequinier
  1. dondaine
  2. cranequin
  1. crossbow
  2. windlass

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. medieval
  1. weaponry
  1. artillery
  1. historical
  1. vccvcvcc
  1. crossbow

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‘arbalist’ has been looked up 1247 times, loved by 2 people, added to 7 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 10.