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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
A pistol (handgun)
A pistol formation in American football.
Etymology
Probably from Middle French pistole , or via Middle English pistolet , from Middle French pistolet ( “ small firearm or small dagger ” ) .
The origin is unclear, if via German to Romance probably from Middle High German forms like pischulle from Czech píšťala ( “ firearm ” , literally “ tube, pipe ” ) , from Proto-Slavic *piščalь , from *piskati , *piščati ( “ to squeak, whistle ” ) , from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk- .
Alternatively, if from Romance to German, from or related to Italian pistolese ( “ short dagger ” ) , from Italian Pistoia ( “ a Tuscan town noted for its gunsmithing ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
pistol (plural pistols )
A handgun
The mechanical component of a fuse in a bomb or torpedo responsible for firing the detonator .
A creative and unpredictable jokester , a constant source of entertainment and surprises.
2011 , Diane Lierow, Bernie Lierow, Kay West, Dani's Story: A Journey from Neglect to Love , page 81 :She was gregarious, opinionated, and in charge, the kind of person you'd describe as a real pistol , and I was immediately drawn to her.
February 2012 , Thomas Pugsley, Denial (episode) in Young Justice (TV series) :
KENT NELSON —Until my wife Inza convinced me there was more to life. Ah, she was a real pistol , that Inza.
2012 , Jimmy Correa, How My Prank Stories in ‘You Tube’ Made Me an Overnight Sensation , iUniverse, page 102 :She features so many dance tunes and is a pistol with her sharp and witty remarks.
( Southern US ) A small boy who is bright , alert and very active .
( American football ) An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center , but closer than in a shotgun formation, with a running back lined up behind him.
Usage notes
Some shooters differentiate between a "pistol", a semi-automatic handgun with a single, integrated chamber fed by a detachable magazine, and a revolver , which is named after its multiple rotating chambers; however, in common usage, the word pistol is used to refer to any type of handgun .
Derived terms
Translations
handgun
Albanian: pistoletë (sq) f
Amharic: ሽጉጥ ( šəguṭ )
Arabic: مُسَدَّس m ( musaddas ) , فَرْد (ar) m ( fard ) , طَبَنْجَة f ( ṭabanja ) , غَدَّارَة f ( ḡaddāra )
South Levantine Arabic: فَرْد m ( fard )
Armenian: ատրճանակ (hy) ( atrčanak )
Avar: таманча ( tamanča )
Azerbaijani: tapança , pistolet (az)
Belarusian: пістале́т m ( pistaljét )
Bengali: পিস্তল (bn) ( pistol )
Bulgarian: пистоле́т (bg) m ( pistolét )
Burmese: သေနတ် (my) ( senat )
Catalan: pistola (ca) f
Chechen: тапча ( tapča )
Cherokee: ᎦᎶᏇ ( galoque )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 手槍 / 手枪 ( sau2 coeng1 )
Mandarin: 手槍 / 手枪 (zh) ( shǒuqiāng )
Czech: pistole (cs) f
Danish: pistol (da) c
Dutch: pistool (nl) n
Esperanto: pistolo
Estonian: püstol
Finnish: pistooli (fi)
French: pistolet (fr) m
Georgian: პისტოლეტი ( ṗisṭoleṭi ) , დამბაჩა (ka) ( dambača )
German: Pistole (de) f , Faustfeuerwaffe (de) f
Greek: πιστόλι (el) n ( pistóli )
Hebrew: אֶקְדָח (he) m ( ekdákh )
Hindi: बंदूक़ f ( bandūq ) , बंदूक (hi) f ( bandūk ) , तमंचा (hi) m ( tamañcā ) , पिस्तौल (hi) f ( pistaul )
Hungarian: pisztoly (hu)
Icelandic: skammbyssa (is) f
Ido: pistolo (io)
Indonesian: pistol (id)
Irish: piostal
Italian: pistola (it) f
Japanese: 拳銃 (ja) ( けんじゅう, kenjū ) , ピストル (ja) ( pisutoru ) , 手筒 ( てづつ, tezutsu ) , 弾き (ja) ( はじき, hajiki )
Kazakh: тапанша ( tapanşa ) , пистолет ( pistolet )
Khmer: កាំភ្លើងខ្លី ( kampləəng khləy ) , កាំភ្លើងដៃ ( kampləəng day )
Kikuyu: mũcinga class 3
Korean: 권총(拳銃) (ko) ( gwonchong ) , 피스톨 ( piseutol )
Kyrgyz: тапанча (ky) ( tapanca ) , пистолет ( pistolet )
Lao: ປືນພົກ ( pư̄n phok ) , ປືນສັ້ນ ( pư̄n san )
Latin: pistōla f , pistōlium n , pistōlettus m ( unadapted ) , sclopētus brevior m
Latvian: pistole f
Lezgi: тапанчи ( tapanči )
Lithuanian: pistoletas m
Luxembourgish: Pistoul
Macedonian: пиштол m ( pištol )
Malay: pistol
Maori: pītara , kope
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: гар буу ( gar buu )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: pistol (no) m
Nynorsk: pistol m
Occitan: pistolet (oc) m
Odia: ପିସ୍ତଲ (or) ( pistôlô )
Ottoman Turkish: طبانجه ( tabanca )
Pashto: تفنګچه f ( tofangča ) , تمانچه (ps) f ( tamānča ) , تومانچه (ps) f ( tomānča ) , توپنچه (ps) f ( topanča ) , توپنګچه f ( topangča ) , تپانچه (ps) f ( tapānča ) , ټپوک m ( ṭapuk )
Persian:
Dari: تُفَنْگْچَه ( tufangča )
Iranian Persian: تَپانْچِه (fa) ( tapânče ) , تَمَنْچِه ( tamanče ) ( dated )
Polish: pistolet (pl) m
Portuguese: pistola (pt) f
Quechua: maki illapa
Romanian: pistol (ro) n
Russian: пистоле́т (ru) m ( pistolét ) , ( colloquial ) пу́шка (ru) f ( púška )
Scottish Gaelic: daga m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пѝшто̄љ m , са̏мокре̄с m , пу̀ца̄љка f ( colloquial )
Roman: pìštōlj (sh) m , sȁmokrēs (sh) m , pùcāljka (sh) f ( colloquial )
Sinhalese: පිස්තෝලය ( pistōlaya )
Slovak: pištoľ f
Slovene: pištola (sl) f
Spanish: pistola (es) f
Swahili: bastola (sw)
Swedish: pistol (sv) c
Tajik: пистолет ( pistolet ) , таппонча ( tapponča ) , туфангча ( tufangča )
Tamil: பிஸ்டல் ( pisṭal ) , துப்பாக்கி (ta) ( tuppākki )
Tarifit: azidan m
Tatar: пистолет ( pistolet )
Telugu: పిస్టల్ ( pisṭal )
Thai: ปืนพก ( bpʉʉn-pók ) , ปืนสั้น ( bpʉʉn-sân )
Tibetan: པི་སི་ཏོབ ( pi si tob )
Tigrinya: ሽጉጥ ( šəguṭ )
Turkish: tabanca (tr)
Turkmen: pistolet , pistolýet , sapança
Ukrainian: пістоле́т (uk) m ( pistolét )
Urdu: بَنْدُوق f ( bandūq ) , پِسْتَول f ( pistaul ) , تَپَنْچَہ m ( tapanca ) , تَمَنْچَہ m ( tamanca )
Uyghur: تاپانچا ( tapancha )
Uzbek: toʻpponcha (uz) , pistolet (uz)
Vietnamese: súng ngắn (vi) , súng lục (vi)
Walloon: pistolet (wa)
Welsh: pistol (cy) m , pistolion m pl
Written Oirat: ᡌᡅᠰᡐᡆᠯ ( pistol )
Yiddish: פּיסטויל m ( pistoyl ) , נאַגאַן m ( nagan ) ( Nagant revolver )
the mechanical component of a fuse
Translations to be checked
Verb
pistol (third-person singular simple present pistols , present participle pistoling or ( more uncommon ) pistolling , simple past and past participle pistoled or ( more uncommon ) pistolled )
( transitive ) To shoot (at) a target with a pistol.
See also
References
Further reading
Anagrams
Cebuano
Etymology
A minced oath of pisti .
Pronunciation
Interjection
pistol
expressing anger , surprise , excitement , etc.
Danish
Etymology
From Middle French pistole or from German Pistole , either from Italian pistola or from Czech píšťala ( “ whistle ” ) , from Proto-Slavic *piščalь , from *piskati , *piščati ( “ to squeak, whistle ” ) , from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk- .
Pronunciation
Noun
pistol c (singular definite pistolen , plural indefinite pistoler )
handgun , pistol
Inflection
See also
Indonesian
Etymology
From Malay pistol , from Dutch pistool , from German Pistole , from Middle French pistole , from Czech píšťala ( “ whistle ” ) , from Proto-Slavic *piščalь , from *piskati , *piščati ( “ to squeak, whistle ” ) , from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk- .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈpɪstɔl/
Hyphenation: pis‧tol
Noun
pistol (first-person possessive pistolku , second-person possessive pistolmu , third-person possessive pistolnya )
a pistol ( gun )
Derived terms
Further reading
Malay
Etymology
From Dutch pistool . Ultimately from Czech píšťala ( “ whistle ” ) , from Proto-Slavic *piščalь , from *piskati , *piščati ( “ to squeak, whistle ” ) , from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk- .
Noun
pistol (Jawi spelling ڤيستول , plural pistol -pistol , informal 1st possessive pistolku , 2nd possessive pistolmu , 3rd possessive pistolnya )
a pistol ( gun, handheld short firearm weapon )
Further reading
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Czech píšťala ( “ whistle, because of the shape ” ) , via German Pistole .
Noun
pistol m (definite singular pistolen , indefinite plural pistoler , definite plural pistolene )
a pistol ( firearm )
2012 , Tatiana de Rosnay , translated by Kirsti Overgaard, Saras nøkkel [Sarah's Key ] :Langs veggene sto politimenn med dystre ansikter, truende, med hendene på pistolene sine. Along the walls policemen stood menacingly with sombre faces, and with hands on their pistols .
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Czech píšťala ( “ whistle ” ) , via German Pistole .
Noun
pistol m (definite singular pistolen , indefinite plural pistolar , definite plural pistolane )
a pistol ( firearm )
References
Old English
Etymology
From Late Latin epistola , epistula . Compare Middle Dutch pistele , pistel , Middle Low German pistele , Middle High German pistel .
Pronunciation
Noun
pistol m
( religion , Christianity ) letter , epistle
( religion , Christianity , biblical ) an epistle of the New Testament
Declension
Declension of pistol (strong a-stem)
Derived terms
Descendants
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Greek πιστόλι ( pistóli ) .
Noun
pistol n (plural pistoale )
pistol
Declension
Swedish
Etymology
Ultimately from Czech píšťala ( “ whistle ” ) , from Proto-Slavic *piščalь , from *piskati , *piščati ( “ to squeak, whistle ” ) , from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk- .
Pronunciation
Noun
pistol c
a pistol ( gun )
Synonyms: ( colloquial ) pickadoll , ( colloquial ) picka , ( colloquial ) puffra
Declension
Derived terms
See also