matchlock

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From match + lock.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈmatʃlɒk/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmætʃlɑk/

Noun

matchlock (plural matchlocks)

1. Early type of firearm, using a smoldering piece of cord to fire the powder in the firing pan.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘Dray Wara Yow Dee’, Black and White, Folio Society 2004, vol. 1, p. 372:

     I crept silently up the hill-road, but the fuse of my matchlock was wetted with the rain, and I could not slay Daoud Shah from afar.

2. The gunlock used in such a weapon, having a slow smouldering match, see: slow match.

Translations

firearm

• Finnish: lunttupyssy (fi)

gunlock

• Finnish: lunttulukko (fi)