howitzer

English
howitzer trajectory compared to other types of artillery

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch houwitser, from German Haubitze, from Middle High German haufniz, from Czech houfnice, which was derived from houf (“flock, crowd”) +‎ -nice. The Czech noun houf comes from Middle High German hufe (“heap”), from Old High German hūfo.[1]

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhaʊ.ɪts.ə(ɹ)/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhaʊ.ɪts.əɹ/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

howitzer (plural howitzers)

  1. A cannon that combines certain characteristics of field guns and mortars, delivering projectiles with medium velocities, usually with relatively high trajectories; normally a cannon with a tube length of 20 to 30 calibers.
  2. (sports, rugby, ice hockey) A powerfully hit shot.
    • 2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport‎:
      Belgium took a little while to catch Scotland with the first of the howitzer blows, but when the first one landed there was a certainty of more. Many more.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

howitzer (third-person singular simple present howitzers, present participle howitzering, simple past and past participle howitzered)

  1. To attack with a howitzer.

See also

References
  1. “howitzer”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
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