15 December 2017
ballista
[buh-lis-tuh]
noun, plural ballistae [buh-lis-tee]
1. an ancient military engine for throwing stones or other missiles.
Origin of ballista
Greek
1590-1600; < Latin, probably < Greek *ballistā́s, dialectal variant of *ballistḗs, equivalent to báll(ein) to throw + -istēs -ist
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for ballista
Historical Examples
The ballista was considerably larger and more expensive than this.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5
Various
No ballista, however, is made without regard to the given amount of weight of the stone which the engine is intended to throw.
Ten Books on Architecture
Vitruvius
The ballista (Fig. 229) was in reality a large cross-bow, built to shoot long, heavy bolts or arrows.
The Boy Craftsman
A. Neely Hall
Like a modern field gun, the ballista shot low and directly toward the enemy.
Artillery Through the Ages
Albert Manucy
Various names were applied to these weapons, the chief of which were the ballista and the catapult.
Great Inventions and Discoveries
Willis Duff Piercy
Trebuchet, treb′ū-shet, n. a military engine like the ballista.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various
Anagram
lib atlas
tail slab
Today’s quote
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
– Benjamin Franklin
On this day
15 December 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
15 December 1832 – Gustave Eiffel, French engineer and architect, co-designed the Eiffel Tower. Died 27 December 1923.
15 December 1890 – death of Sitting Bull, Native American tribal chief. Born as ‘Jumping Badger’ in 1831.
15 December 1917 – World War I: An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed.
15 December 1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially becomes effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.
15 December 1945 – Occupation of Japan: General Douglas MacArthur orders that Shinto be abolished as the state religion of Japan.
15 December 1946 – U.S.-backed Iranian troops evict the leadership of the breakaway Republic of Mahabad, putting an end to the Iran crisis of 1946.
15 December 1954 – The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands is signed.
15 December 1970 – Russia’s Venera 7 spacecraft lands on Venus, the first man-made object to land on the planet. It was launched on 15 August 1970.
15 December 1973 – The American Psychiatric Association votes 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II.
15 December 1974 – birth of Pooh, Filipino actor and comedian, star of Banana Split, famous for his impersonations, including that of Filipino boxer, Manny Pacquiao. Pooh’s real name is Reynold Garcia.
15 December 1981 – A suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern suicide bombing.
15 December 2001 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.
15 December 2010 – A boat carrying 90 asylum seekers crashes into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island, Australia, killing 48 people.