musket

/ˈmʌskət/

/ˈmʌskɪt/

Other forms: muskets

A musket is a long, front-loaded, over-the-shoulder gun. Muskets have been used in many wars, such as the American Civil War.

There are many types of guns. One that's gone out of style is the musket. This weapon of choice for infantrymen was distinctive in a few ways. It was fired over your shoulder (or sometimes mounted on a stand), and it had a very long barrel. It was also muzzle-loaded, which means it was loaded through the front of the gun, not the back, like most contemporary guns.

Definitions of musket

1. noun

   a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen
   types:

   blunderbuss

   a short musket of wide bore with a flared muzzle

   culverin

   a medieval musket

   fusil

   a light flintlock musket

   matchlock

   an early style of musket; a slow-burning wick would be lowered into a hole in the breech to ignite the charge

   type of:

   muzzle loader

   an obsolete firearm that was loaded through the muzzle