Illustration of crossbow
: a weapon for shooting quarrels and stones that consists chiefly of a short bow mounted crosswise near the end of a stock
Examples of crossbow in a Sentence
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It was set up with a pulley system and a trip wire that would fire the crossbow when a deer’s leg tripped it.
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David Zeug, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
Early warfare focused on hand-to-hand combat, but in time, the types of weapons advanced to include items like slings, crossbows and swords and with them came the practice of sending messages with their use.
—Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2025
Kentucky's 2025 deer hunting season includes dates for archery, crossbow, muzzleloader, and modern gun methods.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 22 Sep. 2025
Wednesday thinks she’s outwitted her opponents, but her plan to have Thing ready at the crossbow to take out Isaac-Slurp is thwarted when — dun dun DUNNNN!
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
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David Zeug, Outdoor Life, 29 Oct. 2025
Early warfare focused on hand-to-hand combat, but in time, the types of weapons advanced to include items like slings, crossbows and swords and with them came the practice of sending messages with their use.
—Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2025
Kentucky's 2025 deer hunting season includes dates for archery, crossbow, muzzleloader, and modern gun methods.
—Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 22 Sep. 2025
Wednesday thinks she’s outwitted her opponents, but her plan to have Thing ready at the crossbow to take out Isaac-Slurp is thwarted when — dun dun DUNNNN!
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crossbow
Cite this Entry
“Crossbow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crossbow. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
crossbow
noun
cross·bow
-ˌbō 
: a short bow mounted crosswise near the end of a wooden stock that shoots short arrows
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