ETYM French pistole, pistolet, Italian pistola; prob. from a form Pistola, for Pistoja, a town in Italy where pistols were first made. Related to Pistole.
(Homonym: pistil).
A firearm that is held and fired with one hand; SYN. handgun, side arm, shooting iron.
Any small firearm designed to be fired with one hand.
Pistols were in use from the early 15th century.
The problem of firing more than once without reloading was tackled by using many combinations of multiple barrels, both stationary and revolving. A breech-loading, multichambered revolver of as early as 1650 still survives; the first practical solution, however, was Samuel Colt's six-gun 1847. Behind a single barrel, a short six-chambered cylinder was rotated by cocking the hammer and a fresh round of ammunition brought into firing position. The automatic pistol, operated by gas or recoil, was introduced in Germany in the 1890s. Both revolvers and automatics remain in widespread military use. + prikaži više