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matchlock

noun
match·​lock | \ ˈmach-ˌläk How to pronounce matchlock (audio) \

Definition of matchlock

1 : a musket equipped with a matchlock
2 : a slow-burning match lowered over a hole in the breech of a musket to ignite the charge

Examples of matchlock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 Guns are a part of American life, and have been since the very beginning, from the matchlock muskets arming the earliest colonies to the Colt revolvers and Winchester rifles of the Old West to the Glock handgun of today. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "What a Gun Is," 7 Mar. 2018 Also known Hwaseong-Chong (a matchlock gun), the SA-16 is likely meant to offset the advantage South Korean and American forces have in tactical airpower. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "North Korea Loves to Outfit Its Tanks With Weird and Questionable Mods," 4 Apr. 2017

First Known Use of matchlock

circa 1637, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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litmus test

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