α. see bird n. and bolt n.1
β. also 1500s burboulte, 1500s–1600s burbolt.
bird boltn.
/ˈbəːd bəʊlt/, U.S. /ˈbərd ˌboʊlt/ Now historical.
A bolt (bolt n.1 1) used for shooting birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooting equipment > [noun] > bird-bolt
bird bolt1440
quarrela1852
bolted arrows1864
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 50 Brydbolt, or burdebolt, epitilium.
a1450 Treat. Falconry (Durham Record Office D/X/76/7) l. 90 in Studier i Modern Språkvetenskap (1972) 4 26 (MED) When þu come þer, tak þi fesaunt and lat a man sit in a buse with þi fesaunt a litill fro þin hawke als fer as þu may schote a brid-bolt.
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iii. ii. sig. D.iijv He hath in his head. C. Cust. As much braine as a burbolt.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 89 To take those things for Bird-bolts, that you deeme Cannon bullets. View more context for this quotation
1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind viii. 209 The wooden headed bird-bolts of the Middle Ages.
1907 A. M. Tozzer Compar. Study Mayas & Lacandones 59 The bird bolt is made of a hollow reed.
2016 S. Cook Forest Lacandon Maya vi. 316/1 The bird bolt and the foreshaft was made from the wood of the subin.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > limit of distance or reach > to which a thing may be shot > specific
bowshotc1300
bow-draughtc1400
buck-shot1447
flight-shot1455
gun-shot1532
bird bolt shot1570
cannon shot?1571
pistol shot1608
bolt's-shoot1677
rifle shot1803
gun-reach1825
rifle range1830
gun-range1852
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2286/2 Those playnes and downes, where was no wood neare them by a mile, nor hedge neither, but onely one, which was a byrdbolt shot of.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §249 Some Bird-bolt shot, or more, from the River of Seane.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1440