Illustration of sabot
- sabot 1a
1
a
: a wooden shoe worn in various European countries
b(1)
: a strap across the instep in a shoe especially of the sandal type
(2)
: a shoe having a sabot strap
2
: a thrust-transmitting carrier that positions a missile in a gun barrel or launching tube and that prevents the escape of gas ahead of the missile
3
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The Evolution of Sabot
The term sabot may have first been introduced into English in a 1607 translation from French: "wooden shoes," readers were informed, are "properly called sabots." The gun-related sense appeared in the mid-1800s with the invention of a wooden gizmo that kept gun shells from shifting in the gun barrel. Apparently, someone thought the device resembled a wooden shoe and named it sabot (with later generations of this device carrying on the name). Another kind of French sabot—a metal "shoe" used to secure rails to railway ties—is said to be the origin of the word sabotage, from workers destroying the sabots during a French railway strike in the early 1900s. The word sabot is probably related to savate, a Middle French word for an old shoe.
Examples of sabot in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Traditions Smackdown Carnivore 250-grain bullet with sabot produced the following results.
—
Brad Fenson, Outdoor Life, 1 Nov. 2023
In a skirmish with Russian armor, an AMX-10RC crew should try to open fire as far away as possible—1,500 yards or so—in order to take advantage of the F2’s high muzzle velocity while firing armor-piercing sabot shells.
—David Axe, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023
Health Hazards While encased in their sabots, studies have shown DU shells don’t pose a significant radiological hazard to those that handle them.
—Popular Mechanics, 29 Mar. 2023
But the park’s star flora is a rare, spectacular orchid: the sabot de Vénus, or Venus slipper.
—National Geographic, 1 Sep. 2020
He was photographed in 1862 wearing sabots, the wooden clogs that were traditional peasant footwear.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2020
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Brad Fenson, Outdoor Life, 1 Nov. 2023
In a skirmish with Russian armor, an AMX-10RC crew should try to open fire as far away as possible—1,500 yards or so—in order to take advantage of the F2’s high muzzle velocity while firing armor-piercing sabot shells.
—David Axe, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023
Health Hazards While encased in their sabots, studies have shown DU shells don’t pose a significant radiological hazard to those that handle them.
—Popular Mechanics, 29 Mar. 2023
But the park’s star flora is a rare, spectacular orchid: the sabot de Vénus, or Venus slipper.
—National Geographic, 1 Sep. 2020
He was photographed in 1862 wearing sabots, the wooden clogs that were traditional peasant footwear.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Sabot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sabot. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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