musket

noun

Definition of musketnext
as in flintlock
a type of long gun that was used by soldiers before the invention of the rifle

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of musket Most of the statue was melted down and reformed into musket balls, and several of these are on display in the opening section of the show across from four large intact pieces of the original. — Cat Dawson, ARTnews.com, 3 July 2026 Those artifacts include musket balls found in the floorboards years ago during a renovation of Hollis Hall, a dormitory that soldiers used during fighting. — Ira Porter, Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2026 The first battle is a bloodbath, with the men picked off by musket fire almost at random. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 July 2026 The new United States needed muskets, cannons, ammunition, uniforms, cloth, food and credit. — R. Grant Gilmore Iii, The Conversation, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for musket
Recent Examples of Synonyms for musket
  1. flintlock
  2. shotgun
  3. matchlock
  4. blunderbuss
  5. smoothbore
  6. harquebus
  7. culverin
  8. firearm
Noun
  • Smoke billowed from his flintlock and Rhoades didn’t see where the buck ran after the shot.
    — Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Modern gun technologies are far, far more deadly than the one-shot flintlocks of the 18th century—shouldn’t that matter?
    — Robert J. Spitzer, Time, 6 June 2023
Definition of flintlock
Noun
  • But for a few lucky survivors — a Hollywood agent, Amish woman, social media influencer, pregnant agoraphobic and her shotgun-wielding stoner mother — the apocalypse might just be a new beginning.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 2 Nov. 2026
  • During the search, officers allegedly found an AK-47 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, over 350 rounds of ammunition and 40 bags of fentanyl, police said.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of shotgun
Noun
  • The Ottomans deployed field artillery and Janissary infantry armed with matchlocks in a defensive formation called tabur jangi, in which carts and wagons were used to build barricades on the battlefield.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The birth of ‘gunpowder warfare’ can be traced back to the 15th century and the invention of the matchlock gun, the first mechanical firing device.
    — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2026
Definition of matchlock
Noun
  • The blunderbuss of violations of the basic decorum and dignity of democracy have become such a daily matter that the increasingly familiar response is to sigh and surrender.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Trump would also stop treating the Europeans as enemies with his blunderbuss tariffs.
    — Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
Definition of blunderbuss
Noun
  • Challenger 3 drives demand The new facility will support Britain’s Challenger 3 tank program, which will use a 120mm smoothbore gun.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
  • At least three states — Hawaii, Ohio and North Dakota — treat a smoothbore musket the same as an AK-47 or AR-15.
    — Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
Definition of smoothbore
Noun
  • To put that in perspective, when Beretta started making arquebus barrels, Michelangelo was still working in Rome.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Definition of harquebus
Noun
  • Researchers recently found medieval cannonballs from culverins, an early form of cannon, that were most likely used by Vlad the Impaler, during his bloody battle in 1461 with the Ottoman Turks.
    — Fox News, Fox News, 5 Aug. 2019
Definition of culverin
Noun
  • Andrews, the Senate’s first female physician and first pediatrician, credits her stance on gun control to her experience treating children who have unintentionally shot themselves after finding an unsecured firearm.
    — Gabrielle M. Etzel, The Washington Examiner, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The officers encountered a man in the SUV, and one of the officers reported seeing the man with a firearm, according to the KBI.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of firearm

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muskegs
musket
musketeer
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“Musket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/musket. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about musket

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