howitzer
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Dutch houwitser, from German Haubitze, from Middle High German haufniz, from Czech houfnice, which was derived from houf (“flock, crowd”) + -nice. The Czech noun houf comes from Middle High German hufe (“heap”), from Old High German hūfo.[1]
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
howitzer (plural howitzers)
- A cannon that combines certain characteristics of field guns and mortars, delivering projectiles with medium velocities, usually with relatively high trajectories; normally a cannon with a tube length of 20 to 30 calibers.
- (sports, rugby, ice hockey) A powerfully hit shot.
- 2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Belgium took a little while to catch Scotland with the first of the howitzer blows, but when the first one landed there was a certainty of more. Many more.
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
a cannon
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb edit
howitzer (third-person singular simple present howitzers, present participle howitzering, simple past and past participle howitzered)
See also edit
References edit
- ^ “howitzer”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.