firelock

English

Etymology

From fire +‎ lock.

Noun

firelock (plural firelocks)

  1. (now historical) A form of gunlock, in which the priming is ignited by a spark. [from 16th c.]
  2. (now historical) A firearm using such a gunlock. [from 17th c.]
    • 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:
      He looked round for his gun, but … he found an old firelock lying by him, … He now suspected that the grave roysters of the mountain had put a trick upon him, ….
    • 1824, Town and Country Tales, page 115:
      Alfred, surprised to meet his father, whom he thought absent from home, […] stood, holding his firelock in one hand, and his hat in the other […]
    • 1999, Mike Mitchell, translating Johann Grimmelshausen, Simplicissimus, Dedalus 2016, p. 48:
      Before we were out of the forest, however, we saw about ten peasants, some armed with firelocks [transl. Feuer-rohren], others busy burying something.

References
  • firelock in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
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