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Webster 1913 Edition
Musket
Mus′ket
,Noun.
[F.
mousquet
, It. moschetto
, formerly, a kind of hawk; cf. OF. mousket
, moschet
, a kind of hawk falcon, F. mouchet
, prop., a little fly (the hawk prob. being named from its size), fr. L. musca
a fly. Cf. Mosquito
.] [Sometimes written also
musquet
.] 1.
(Zool.)
The male of the sparrow hawk.
Webster 1828 Edition
Musket
MUSK'ET
,Noun.
1.
A species of fire-arms used in war, and fired by means of a lighted match. This manner of firing was in use as late as the civil war in England. But the proper musket is no longer in use. The name, however, in common speech, is yet applied to fusees or fire-locks fired by a spring lock.2.
A male hawk of a small kind, the female of which is the sparrow hawk.