howitzer

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch houwitser, from German Haubitze, from Czech houfnice, which was derived from houf (“flock, crowd”) +‎ -nice. The Czech noun houf comes from Middle High German hufe (“heap”), from Old High German hūfo.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

howitzer (plural howitzers)

  1. A cannon that combines certain characteristics of guns and mortars. The howitzer delivers projectiles with medium velocities, either by low or high trajectories.
  2. Normally a cannon with a tube length of 20 to 30 calibers; however, the tube length can exceed 30 calibers and still be considered a howitzer when the high angle fire zoning solution permits range overlap between charges
  3. (sports, rugby, ice hockey) A powerfully hit shot.
    • 2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Belgium took a little while to catch Scotland with the first of the howitzer blows, but when the first one landed there was a certainty of more. Many more.

Translations
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Translations to be checked

References
  1. “howitzer” in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
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