Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A long, hand-drawn bow, such as that used in medieval England, which sometimes exceeded 6 feet (1.8 meters) in length.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The name commonly given to the bow drawn by hand and discharging a long feathered arrow, as distinguished from crossbows of all kinds, especially to bows having a length of five feet or over, as the bow of war and of the chase of the middle ages in Europe, those of some savage tribes, those of Japan, etc. The English especially excelled in the use of the longbow, as the principal weapon of the common soldier and of hunters, from the fourteenth century till the introduction of firearms, by which it was only gradually superseded.
Wiktionary
- n. A large bow that has a strong tension, and is usually more than 3 feet tall. The most famous longbows in history were the English longbows, which were crafted of yew.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The ordinary bow, not mounted on a stock; -- so called in distinction from the
crossbow when both were used as weapons of war. Also, sometimes, such a bow of about the height of a man, as distinguished from a much shorter one.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a powerful wooden bow drawn by hand; usually 5-6 feet long; used in medieval England
Examples
“Unless, of course, you had a longbow, but I haven't seen any stories about an uptick in longbow sales.”
“How strictly this requirement was enforced is hard to determine but the intent of the law was clear - if the need arose, the Crown could turn-out a formidible force/militia in relatively short order and the longbow was as revolutionary in its day as the firearm was in its day.”
“Rick - Yes, a longbow is a 'simple' or self bow, not a compound bow.”
“My impression is that the longbow is a 'simple' bow, not compound is this correct?”
“Curious, since the longbow is a far superior weapon.”
“- the longbow is the peculiar and decilive advan - tage of the Englifti.”
Internet Archive: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
“A particularly contentious issue in medieval military debates concerns the longbow: was it a revolutionary or an evolutionary weapon Jim Bradbury turns his attention to this question in The Medieval Archer Boydell, 1985, convincingly challenging the conventional view that the longbow was a new and devastating weapon only fully adopted by the English after the experience of Edward I’s armies against Welsh archers at the end of the thirteenth century.”
De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History » The Myths of Medieval Warfare
“Taking some cues from lager fonts the chrome hand pull features a curved "longbow" design and a raised dispense nozzle so that the beer is served above the bar.”
“I shot this 350 lb black bear with my longbow. im 17 and this was my first bear.”
“Yes | No | Report from neylandfan wrote 3 sec ago nice and you shoot it with a longbow thats evan better.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘longbow’.
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Amalgamations
Words that have been smashed together.
keystone, touchstone, footprint, thunderhead, seesaw, textbook, leftovers, watchword, afterbirth, fieldwork, outcast, statesman and 148 more...
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Greek Fire
being items related to mediaeval warfare, arms and armaments.
caltrop, ballista, trebuchet, mangonel, petard, onager, petrary, hurlbat, francisca, crossbow, longbow, flail and 97 more...
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A Parthian Shot: Archery Words
Just what it says. Archery rocks.
bow, arrow, longbow, crossbow, barebow, recurve, compound bow, flight, arrowhead, nock, feather, yew and 197 more...
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Only on Wordie/Wordnik
Okay, mostly on Wordie. But it's more fun here anyway.
brannock device, polari, stupidhead, in toto, nounal, flustrated, stuffocate, firkin, full-assed, placeholder name, pro-text, cheesequake and 408 more...
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Ute
Durable items invented by Hom. Sap.
alpenhorn, matchbox, plinth, pillow, cantilever, fulcrum, troika, cloverleaf, nib, wheelbarrow, dictabelt, cockpit and 184 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for longbow.
yarb You could conceal it in a large musical instrument case - a double bass say. Or possibly a cello, for a short longbow. Jan 16, 2008
uselessness Are these tears of laughter? Let us pretend that they are. ;-) Jan 16, 2008
reesetee Thank you, thank you! Skipvia's here all week! Jan 16, 2008
skipvia Very carefully. *rim shot* Jan 16, 2008
seanahan How does one conceal a longbow? Jan 16, 2008
sionnach Which somewhat vitiates the utility of the line "is that a longbow in your pocket or ...?' Jan 15, 2008
yarb Longbows are extremely cool. But it's against the law to carry one concealed. Jan 15, 2008