grapeshot

grapeshot
/grayp"shot'/, n.
a cluster of small cast-iron balls formerly used as a charge for a cannon.
[1740-50; GRAPE + SHOT1]

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       cannon charge consisting of small round balls, usually of lead or iron, and used primarily as an antipersonnel weapon. Typically, the small iron balls were held in clusters of three by iron rings and combined in three tiers by cast-iron plates and a central connecting rod. This assembly, which reminded gunners of a cluster of grapes (hence the name), broke up when the gun was fired, spread out in flight like a shotgun charge, and sprayed the target area. Grapeshot was widely used in wars of the 18th and 19th centuries at short range against massed troops.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Grapeshot — is a type of anti personnel ammunition used in cannons. Instead of solid shot, a mass of loosely packed metal slugs is loaded into a canvas bag. Grapeshot can also be improvised from chainlinks, shards of glass, rocks, etc. When assembled, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Grapeshot — Grape shot , n. (Mil.) A cluster, usually nine in number, of small iron balls, put together by means of cast iron circular plates at top and bottom, with two rings, and a central connecting rod, in order to be used as a charge for a cannon.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • grapeshot — also grape shot, 1747, from GRAPE (Cf. grape) + SHOT (Cf. shot) (n.). So called for its appearance. The whiff of grapeshot popularized in English from 1837, from Carlyle s history of the French Revolution (in which it was a chapter title) …   Etymology dictionary

  • grapeshot — ► NOUN historical ▪ ammunition consisting of a number of small iron balls fired together from a cannon …   English terms dictionary

  • grapeshot — [grāp′shät΄] n. a cluster of small iron balls, formerly fired from a cannon …   English World dictionary

  • grapeshot — noun A cluster, usually nine in number, of small iron balls, put together by means of cast iron circular plates at top and bottom, with two rings, and a central connecting rod, in order to be used as a charge for a cannon. Formerly grapeshot were …   Wiktionary

  • grapeshot — noun Date: 1745 an antipersonnel weapon consisting of a cluster of small iron balls shot from a cannon …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • grapeshot — Synonyms and related words: ball, bar shot, bird shot, buckshot, bullet, cannon shot, cannonball, case shot, crossbar shot, duck shot, dumdum bullet, expanding bullet, grape, langrel shot, manstopping bullet, pellet, rifle ball, round shot, shell …   Moby Thesaurus

  • grapeshot — n. cluster of small iron balls formerly used as cannon shot …   English contemporary dictionary

  • grapeshot — noun historical ammunition consisting of a number of small iron balls fired together from a cannon …   English new terms dictionary

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