powder flask
- noun
- Archaic
:
frasco de pólvora
- The hunter filled his powder flask with gunpowder before loading his musket.
Examples
-
The flat, pear-shaped powder flask had a spring-activated shutoff that measured out the right amount of load.
Fiction book (1999) -
He carefully checked his powder flask to ensure it was sealed tightly during the trip.
-
In the museum, we saw an old powder flask made from horn that was used in the 18th century.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A hollow animal horn for carrying gunpowder in the past
How Big
- Specialized
1
8.4
- Archaic
1
7.7
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a container for carrying gunpowder' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'powder' (specifically gunpowder) with 'flask' (a narrow‑necked container). This clear noun‑noun compounding follows common morphological patterns and would be immediately inferable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Powder flask comes from a real object: a small bottle, a flask, that held powder called 'gunpowder' and was often made from a hollow horn so hunters and soldiers could carry powder to load their guns. That's why the name now means 'a container used for carrying gunpowder'.