harquebus

Definition

An obsolete matchlock firearm.

Etymology

From French harquebuse, borrowed from Middle Low German hakebusse or Middle Dutch hakebus, hagebus (modern Dutch haakbus), from hôk (“hook”) + busse (“box; firelock”), from Old Saxon hōk + *buhsa, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz + *buhsā.

Example Sentences

• "All the while they had their eye and foot so quicke and readie, that as soone as ever they saw the harquebuse raised to the cheeke, so soon were they on the ground, and eftsoone to answer with their bowes, and to the their way, if by chance they perceived that we were about to take them."