birdbolt

B3I1R1D2B3O1L1T1

noun

A short blunt arrow for killing birds without piercing them.

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounbirdbolt (plural birdbolts)

plural birdbolts · alternative bird-bolt

  1. A short blunt arrow for killing birds without piercing them.
  2. figurativelyAnything that smites without penetrating.

    To be generous, / guiltless and of free disposition, is to take those / things for bird-bolts that you deem cannon-bullets:

    c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act 1, scene 5, lines 86–88

Origin

From bird + bolt.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Vogelbolzen
  • Vogelbolzenblunt arrow for killing birds
Cite this entry
APA

birdbolt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birdbolt

MLA

“birdbolt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birdbolt. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “birdbolt,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birdbolt.

Source: birdbolt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.