as in dynamos
a very energetic person
a real pistol, she dances rings around the other performers
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Recent Examples of pistols
Tim Fang, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2026
Seeking to strengthen the state’s gun laws, a key legislative committee voted Tuesday to ban pistols that can be converted easily into automatic machine guns.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2026
Defense lawyers noted Monday, for example, that two 9-mm spent shell casings seen in a photograph under the arm of Moïse’s bullet-riddled body on the floor next to his bed could have been fired from pistols on which the FBI failed to conduct ballistics testing.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Most are armed with M17 pistols or M4 rifles.
—Steven Beynon, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
Hungry for travel and unaware of his history of mental disturbance—a habit of firing pistols during classes for deaf pupils had impeded his progress in Scottish schools—Muriel agreed to follow him to Southern Rhodesia, where the couple were married the following year.
—Miranda Seymour, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
In one scene, a child wields akimbo pistols.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
The statement about the gun was technically true—most modern pistols are—but misleading.
—Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
Brown was sitting in a white BMW that Fluker and Westbrook allegedly followed to a store near Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, before opening fire with two pistols and a rifle, authorities say.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2026
Noun
Oakland Police Department The searches also yielded six dirt bikes, one vehicle, two semiautomatic pistols and an assault rifle.
—Tim Fang, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2026
Seeking to strengthen the state’s gun laws, a key legislative committee voted Tuesday to ban pistols that can be converted easily into automatic machine guns.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2026
Defense lawyers noted Monday, for example, that two 9-mm spent shell casings seen in a photograph under the arm of Moïse’s bullet-riddled body on the floor next to his bed could have been fired from pistols on which the FBI failed to conduct ballistics testing.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Most are armed with M17 pistols or M4 rifles.
—Steven Beynon, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
Hungry for travel and unaware of his history of mental disturbance—a habit of firing pistols during classes for deaf pupils had impeded his progress in Scottish schools—Muriel agreed to follow him to Southern Rhodesia, where the couple were married the following year.
—Miranda Seymour, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
In one scene, a child wields akimbo pistols.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
The statement about the gun was technically true—most modern pistols are—but misleading.
—Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
Brown was sitting in a white BMW that Fluker and Westbrook allegedly followed to a store near Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, before opening fire with two pistols and a rifle, authorities say.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pistols.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pistols. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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