siege engine

Definition

A large weapon of war used during ancient and medieval times to batter fortifications, settlements, etc.; specifically, a trebuchet or other type of catapult.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁én From siege + engine (“large construction used in warfare”).

Example Sentences

• "Opposite this hill Bohemund's men now began to dig in a definite direction. For the besiegers had devised this new mischief against the city and invented a new knavish siege-engine to apply to the town. For as they dug, they went along under the ground like moles boring holes in the soil and in places protecting themselves by sheds with high roofs against the stones and arrows which were thrown from above, and in others propping up the earth above them with poles, and thus they went on in a straight line."
• "The cavalry were on the wings and the siege-engines, mangonels and catapults, planted on sand-dunes."