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halberd

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halberd

Weapon consisting of an ax blade and a sharp spike mounted on the end of a long staff. Usually about 5–6 ft (1.5–2 m) long, it was an important weapon in middle Europe in the 15th and early 16th centuries. It enabled a foot soldier to contend with an armoured man on horseback; the spiked head kept the rider at a distance, and the ax blade could strike a heavy cleaving blow. Firearms and the declining use of armour made the halberd obsolete.
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Indeed, the narwhal is armed with a sort of ivory sword, a halberd, according to the expression of certain naturalists.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Verne, Jules View in context
' And with that he made his heavy halberd to play around his head as a shepherd boy flourishes his light crook.
Ivanhoe by Scott, Walter View in context
In a corner, a Japanese warrior, mailed and plumed, menaced him with a halberd, and a score of lances and khandas and kuttars gave back the unsteady gleam.
Kim by Kipling, Rudyard View in context
 
 
 
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