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
Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2026
In one recent prosecution, the Department of Justice charged a father-son duo with attempting to drive more than 300 rifles and pistols, plus ammunition and magazines, over the Mexican border.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
But that can be dangerous if people mistake the toy pistols for real weapons, police said.
—Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
The company also argues that accidental firings happen with all manufacturers’ pistols.
—Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2026
Sometimes the last thing a bodice-ripper needs is a reminder that the characters onscreen think leeching is a helpful medical treatment or that disagreements can only be handled with dueling pistols.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 2 Feb. 2026
Investigators found 16 guns including two pistols believed to have been used by a man who fatally shot his wife and their two children, then turned the gun on himself, in a murder-suicide inside the family’s Rancho Cordova home.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Presumably that meant plastic pistols were nonstarters.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The indictment describes two pistols, a rifle and a shotgun found in Roberts' possession.
—CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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
In one recent prosecution, the Department of Justice charged a father-son duo with attempting to drive more than 300 rifles and pistols, plus ammunition and magazines, over the Mexican border.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
But that can be dangerous if people mistake the toy pistols for real weapons, police said.
—Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
The company also argues that accidental firings happen with all manufacturers’ pistols.
—Romy Ellenbogen, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2026
Sometimes the last thing a bodice-ripper needs is a reminder that the characters onscreen think leeching is a helpful medical treatment or that disagreements can only be handled with dueling pistols.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 2 Feb. 2026
Investigators found 16 guns including two pistols believed to have been used by a man who fatally shot his wife and their two children, then turned the gun on himself, in a murder-suicide inside the family’s Rancho Cordova home.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Presumably that meant plastic pistols were nonstarters.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The indictment describes two pistols, a rifle and a shotgun found in Roberts' possession.
—CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pistols.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pistols. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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