: a hand-drawn wooden bow held vertically and used especially by medieval English archers
Examples of longbow in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bows and Arrows Archer with medieval English longbow and arrows.
—
Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 7 Dec. 2023
It is thought that the yew was used to create longbows for his royal archers in the lead-up to the Battle of Bannockburn.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 June 2023
Then there are recurve bows with curved tips that create more energy than the longbow.
—Patrick Cooke, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2021
There’s the longbow like the English used to shoot, a D-shaped design, very simple thing.
—Patrick Cooke, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2021
The Iceman’s survival gear included a longbow of yew, a quiver of arrows, a copper ax and a kind of crude first-aid kit full of plants with powerful pharmacological properties.
—New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021
On Bob’s 12th birthday, his parents gave him his first real bow, a Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow.
—David Howard, Popular Mechanics, 11 Aug. 2021
Here, Spink walks us through how to make a 68-inch Native American longbow.
—Andrew Del-Colle, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2020
The English longbow was a powerful medieval weapon said to be able to pierce an opponent's armor and may have been a decisive factor in several key military victories, most notably the Battle of Agincourt.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 May 2020
Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 7 Dec. 2023
It is thought that the yew was used to create longbows for his royal archers in the lead-up to the Battle of Bannockburn.
—Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 June 2023
Then there are recurve bows with curved tips that create more energy than the longbow.
—Patrick Cooke, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2021
There’s the longbow like the English used to shoot, a D-shaped design, very simple thing.
—Patrick Cooke, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Nov. 2021
The Iceman’s survival gear included a longbow of yew, a quiver of arrows, a copper ax and a kind of crude first-aid kit full of plants with powerful pharmacological properties.
—New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021
On Bob’s 12th birthday, his parents gave him his first real bow, a Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow.
—David Howard, Popular Mechanics, 11 Aug. 2021
Here, Spink walks us through how to make a 68-inch Native American longbow.
—Andrew Del-Colle, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2020
The English longbow was a powerful medieval weapon said to be able to pierce an opponent's armor and may have been a decisive factor in several key military victories, most notably the Battle of Agincourt.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 May 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'longbow.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of longbow was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near longbow
Cite this Entry
“Longbow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/longbow. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
longbow
noun
long·bow
ˈlȯŋ-ˌbō 
: a wooden bow drawn by hand
More from Merriam-Webster on longbow
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about longbow
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