ballista
1
9.9
- noun
- /bəˈlɪstə/
- Archaic
:
balista
- Our ballista fire would bounce off Aremag's shell.
- crew of the ballista
Examples
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Archers, bring up the ballista.
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He knew, however, that behind each port stood a heavy ballista.
Fiction book (1992) -
The heavy thud of twenty-five ballista arms shooting forward and the hiss of as many huge bolts slicing through the air came to Artus's ears.
Fiction book (1992) -
The soldiers carefully aimed the ballista to strike the enemy walls from a distance.
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During the siege, the commander instructed his men to operate the ballista with precision.
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Ancient armies often used a ballista to launch heavy stones at fortified structures.
Synonyms
A large ancient weapon that shoots heavy arrows or stones during war
A large ancient Roman machine that threw heavy stones at walls
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ballista comes from the Greek verb ballein, which means 'to throw' and is the same root seen in ballistic. So a ballista is literally a machine for 'throwing' heavy stones or bolts, like a huge ancient crossbow.