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A machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles.
‘The enemy had approached in the predawn to within a few hundred yards, and a big trebuchet was hurling rocks at them.’
‘In part, this stress on strong outer defences was a reaction to new and more powerful weapons, including crossbows and siege machines such as mangonels and trebuchets capable of throwing heavy rocks.’
‘In retaliation, catapults, trebuchets and arrows from the Bismarck archers rained down on the Mongols.’
‘I will assemble catapults, mangonels, trebuckets and other instruments…’
‘He was still inside the citadel, propped up against a wall behind a massive trebuchet, a stationary artillery weapon that could fling much larger weights, and over much greater distances than a catapult.’
‘Torsion and counterpoise engines of war - ballistae and trebuchets - could be made in situ with local materials - timber and fibre.’
‘That led in turn to Greek Fire - a napalm-like substance that could be tossed in small amounts, like a grenade, or in tubs using trebuchets.’
‘Drawn toward the city gates, they fell victim to an array of crossbows and trebuchets from within the city defenses.’
‘Tewkesbury Battle Field Society proved a great draw, with a potato-throwing trebuchet (a hurling device), raising money for the proposed statues, models of which were on display on their stand.’
‘‘Bunchberry stamens are designed like miniature medieval trebuchets - specialized catapults that maximize throwing distance by having the payload attached to the throwing arm by a hinge or flexible strap,’ Edwards said.’
‘Intrigued by Leonardo da Vinci's drawing of a machine capable of slinging dead horses over a long distance, he reckoned the ‘war wolf’ was a monster trebuchet, a gravity-powered catapult first developed in China.’
‘The trebuchet allows the flower to throw pollen further than a simple catapult would, she said.’
‘Build your own trebuchet and start flinging things at the neighbours.’
‘They, like catapults, trebuchets, and siege engines, were made mainly of wood.’
‘But what spurred him to build one was, as he puts it, " my nutter cousin " in Northumberland, who put together a pint-sized trebuchet for a county fair.’
‘As if that were not enough, a second trebuchet was built to a French design using a huge swinging ballast-filled basket as a counterweight.’
‘The close-quarter action photography with gristle and bone is spliced with dizzy shots of flying masonry launched by ginormous trebuchets.’
‘And in times of trouble the Pumpkin will always be ready to be flung from our trebuchet in any direction worthy of it.’
‘Catapults of the Middle Ages were divided into two major groups: ballistas, and trebuchets.’
‘Unconventional contrivances and machina arcana include a range of desktop siege weapons including miniature trebuchets, ballistae, and mangonels.’
Origin
Middle English: from Old French, from trebucher ‘overthrow’.