grapeshot

noun

grape·​shot ˈgrāp-ˌshät 

: an antipersonnel weapon consisting of a cluster of small iron balls shot from a cannon

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Wallis fired his guns at a promontory overlooking Matavai Bay, raining shrapnel and grapeshot on a crowd of angry onlookers. —Hampton Sides, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Sep. 2021

He was wounded at the Battle of Savannah in 1779, hit by grapeshot in a charge, and perished. —Frank Fellone, Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2020

But while Laurens’ troops set up their howitzer artillery, a large-caliber cannon with a short barrel built to fire clusters of grapeshot, the British spotted them, according to a SCBPT statement. —Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Aug. 2020

This hint to elevate the breeches of their guns was acted on and a volley of grapeshot fired into Captain Taylor’s boat, defeated his bold plan of capture, and wounded him for life. —Nancy Stearns Theiss, The Courier-Journal, 23 Dec. 2017

Early in the war, his left arm was shattered by grapeshot and amputated, but that didn't stop him, as Sears relates. —Patrick T. Reardon, chicagotribune.com, 27 Apr. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1745, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

grapeshot

noun

grape·​shot ˈgrāp-ˌshät 

: small iron balls formerly fired at short range from a cannon against people (as soldiers or rioters)