Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A pair of hardwood sticks joined by a chain or cord and used as a weapon. Often used in the plural.
Wiktionary
- n. martial arts a weapon consisting of two sticks joined by a chain or cord
- n. A similarly formed device, such as the Wii Nunchuk attachment.
Etymologies
- Japanese word, from Min Nan trad. 兩節棍, simpl. 两节棍 (POJ nn̄g-chiat-kùn, IPA: /nʌŋ˨˩tɕiat˥˥kun˨˩/) (Wiktionary)
- Okinawan Japanese, probably from Chinese (Taiwanese) neng-cak, type of farm implement, equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) liacaron.gifng, two, paired + Chinese (Mandarin) záo, to dig, digger. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Cuomo, 554 F.3d 56 (2009), the panel considered (as relevant here) a claim by a New York attorney that a state law prohibiting possession of a chuka stick (also known as nunchaku, a device used in martial arts consisting of two sticks joined by a rope or chain) violated his Second Amendment right to bear arms.”
“Another novel feature of the Maloney case is that it is not a challenge to the constitutionality of a gun control law; rather, it targets a New York state law on weapons control, so far as that law applies to a "chuka stick" (or "nunchaku").”
“Perhaps the legislature can restrict all firearms so long as they permit some kind of “arms” to be carried — nunchaku perhaps?”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Second Circuit Due Process Victory for Connecticut Carry Permit Holders
“The use of semicolons would suggest that a zoobow is a form of or alternative name for nunchaku.”
“Edit: Looking at the statute again, it looks like they mention nunchaku and zoobows in the same set, suggesting any weapon made by fastening two sticks together with wire, rope, etc. would be banned.”
“Zoobow is just another name for a nunchaku – courtesy of THR (The HighRoad).”
“Similarly, the statute refers to “knuckles of any substance” that can be “put to the same use with the same or similar effect” as metallic knuckles; nunchaku, zoobow “or any similar weapon” configured with two sticks connected by rope, chain, or wire; and shuriken or “any similar pointed starlike object intended to injure a person when thrown.””
“I thought a zoobow was the same thing as nunchaku, but I could bewrong.”
“The semicolon use suggests that it is (or is very similar to) nunchaku.”
“There are shurikens thrown with gatling gun-like speed and rapidity, at least one limb severed for every minute of screen time and some wicked-looking choreography involving katanas and a kusarigama (the new nunchaku, you heard it here first).”
‘Ninja Assassin’ Lets The Shurikens Fly In This Week’s Box Office Poll » MTV Movies Blog
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘nunchaku’.
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Not 250 Spelling Words Again
Yet more spelling words for intermediate to advanced spellers.
kyoodle, heimin, feis, menarche, cordwainer, gherao, zythum, accidie, anastomosis, boustrophedon, oleum, penicillin and 238 more...
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Wordnik Spam Inquiries
We get a lot of spam emails at Wordnik that fit this pattern: "Mr Bob Wilson here and i will like to know if you do have X for sale". The words on this list represent a subset of such requested items.
burnisher, shaper vise, salt spreader, soil pulveriser, bible, flutes, baffles, crucifix cross, proofer, gazebo, real bubble wrap, roller tray and 206 more...
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the armourer
Armour and weapons, and the occasional soldier.
gauntlet, vambrace, ballista, arbalest, trebuchet, sabre, epee, foil, flamberge, katana, dagger, switchblade and 80 more...
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Lethal Weapons
bazooka, a-bomb, nunchaku, boomerang, mace, blackjack, morning star, pump action shotgun, blunderbuss, napalm, bowie knife, uzi and 8 more...
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10-cent Words - Literally!
I'm giving my daughter 10 cents for each new word she learns how to spell - here is a sampling.
labyrinth, lackadaisical, laryngitis, lecithin, legerdemain, leviathan, lichen, lieutenant, lilliputian, liniment, logarithm, lozenge and 17 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for nunchaku.
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