chainshot

God come sometimes like chainshot to us, as if it would cut down all -- as when Abraham was to offer up Isaac, and the Levites to slay their brethren.

The Riches of Bunyan Jeremiah Rev. Chaplin

Job ran aft for a word with the mate, who had the wheel, then returned and again loaded the bowchaser, this time with chainshot and an extra heavy charge of powder to carry it.

The Black Buccaneer 1934

Above the roar of the discharge the boys heard the screech of the whirling chainshot, and then in the _Revenge's_ mainsail appeared a great gaping rent, through the tattered edges of which the wind passed unhindered.

The Black Buccaneer 1934

Marry, this argument, though it be levelled against poetry, yet is it indeed a chainshot against all learning, —or bookishness, as they commonly term it.

The Defense of Poesy 1909

The steeds came by us like a couple of chainshot-neck and neck; and now we could see nothing but their backs, and their hind hoofs flying in the air.

Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative 1869

Whirls high his chainshot, cleaves the mast and strews

The Columbiad Joel Barlow 1783