Definition of crossbow
: a weapon for shooting quarrels and stones that consists chiefly of a short bow mounted crosswise near the end of a stock
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Recent Examples of crossbow from the Web
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Joshua C. Taylor is accused of pointing a crossbow, which had a laser attached, at one Carpentersville police officer and then resisting a second officer during a May 18 incident, according to charging documents.
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Joffrey threatens his unwilling fiancee Sansa Stark with a crossbow, then orders his bodyguard Meryn Trant to beat her and tear at her clothes.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crossbow'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Illustration of crossbow
First Known Use of crossbow
15th century
CROSSBOW Defined for English Language Learners
crossbow
playDefinition of crossbow for English Language Learners
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: a weapon that shoots arrows and that consists of a short bow attached to a longer piece of wood
CROSSBOW Defined for Kids
crossbow
playDefinition of crossbow for Students
: a short strip mounted crosswise near the end of a wooden stock that shoots short arrows
Learn More about crossbow
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See words that rhyme with crossbow Spanish Central: Translation of crossbow Nglish: Translation of crossbow for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of crossbow for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crossbow
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