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Glite Dictionary
crossbowman

crossbowman

8.4
A soldier or person who shoots a crossbow in battle
  • noun
  • /ˈkrɔsˌboʊmən/
  • Archaic
translation icon : ballestero
  • During the siege, a crossbowman defended the castle from approaching invaders.
  • a good crossbowman

Examples

  • They're going to have all of their crossbowmen, you know, kind of returning the favor.

  • A famous crossbowman demonstrated his accuracy at the tournament yesterday.

  • John the Second led the largest and final division, crossbowmen in front and infantry behind, up the Ridge towards the English.

  • A crossbowman tracks him.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Want to create a crossbowman with medical perks and decked out in medium armor?

    Blog text (11)

  • And then behind that, several companies of crossbowmen, swordsmen, and Spearman with Shields.

  • His front ranks consisted of Spears and pikemen, with Archers and crossbowmen behind them, while light cavalry manned both flanks.

  • The skilled crossbowman took aim at the enemy soldiers during the battle.

Surface Forms

crossbowman singular
crossbowmen plural

Morphology

crossbowman = crossbow (transparent) = cross + bow + man

Formed by adding the agentive suffix '-man' to 'crossbow' to denote a person who uses or operates a crossbow; the agentive meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Crossbowman combines crossbow and man: a crossbow is a type of bow that sits across a frame, like a 'cross', and man means 'person'. So a crossbowman is a 'person' who uses a crossbow, often a soldier in battle.