bar shot

noun

: a cannon shot consisting of two spheres or hemispheres united by a bar and formerly used in naval warfare

It should also be noted that bar shot was effectively employed against the rigging and sails of enemy ships only at close range, as this type of artillery projectile was quite inaccurate because the round spun once it had been fired.

—Douglas R. Cubbison, The American Northern Theater Army in 1776, 2010

also : a discharge of such shot

Word History

First Known Use

1711, in the meaning defined above

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