bolt thrower
- noun
:
ballista
- In his hands, the bolt thrower felt heavy, but he knew it was his best chance against the attackers.
Examples
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During the battle, the defenders relied on their bolt throwers to repel the invading forces.
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Carry a bolt thrower... that's why I have my .45!
Blog text (7) -
You have some bolt throwers and grudge throwers, you have some engineers and lots of cannons, flame cannons also starting to get position.
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The ancient soldiers used their bolt throwers to launch heavy projectiles at enemy fortifications.
Synonyms
4
9.9
A large medieval machine that throws heavy stones at walls
1
9.9
A large ancient weapon like a crossbow that fires stones or heavy bolts
A large ancient Roman machine that threw heavy stones at walls
A large medieval machine with a long arm that throws heavy stones
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'weapon that launches bolts' is compositionally signalled by the combination of 'bolt' + '-thrower' (agent/instrument), so a learner who knows 'bolt' in the projectile sense can infer the meaning. However, 'bolt' is polysemous (common B1 knowledge may be the fastener sense) and the specific weapon sense requires world knowledge or exposure, making the relation only partly predictable.
Etymology
Bolt thrower: The noun bolt thrower names an old heavy 'weapon' that launched large bolts, which were like big wooden or metal arrows. So the word joins bolt (the arrow) and thrower (the machine that throws), and it means a machine used in ancient battles to send bolts or stones far away.