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ballista |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
ballistaAncient missile launcher designed to hurl long arrows or heavy balls. The Greek version was basically a huge crossbow fastened to a mount. The Roman ballista was powered by torsion derived from two thick skeins of twisted cords through which were thrust two separate arms joined at their ends by the cord that propelled the missile. The largest could accurately hurl 60-lb (27-kg) weights up to about 500 yards (450 m). How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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9) Leon Ballista Alberti, Momus (Harvard University Press) Best known for his treatise on perspective, Alberti also penned this highly amusing satirical account of Momus, the "god of fault-finding and the personification of embittered mockery," as editors Sarah Knight and Virginia Brown put it--i. The Bear, contending that the letter "r" represents a sound universally associated with "a rattle or a whirr like a stone flung with great impetus from a sling or a javelin leaving a ballista, or a cane or rod swished through the air," argues that it therefore naturally forms parts of words having to do with speed. Austin also has numerous engineering and training certifications with manufacturers such as Check Point Software Technologies, Internet Security Systems, VeriSign, 3Com, Ballista, Citrix and Cisco Systems. |
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