pigstick
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: pigsticks
form: pig stick
Etymology: From pig + stick.
Senses: examples: text: The pigstick was set up on the nightstand next to him, the shotgun shell held in place by a metal arm. I followed the wire to a timing device, realized I had no expertise at all to disarm it, and chose instead to simply point the contraption away from Lance.
ref: 2009, J. A. Knorath, Cherry Bomb:
text: The 'pigstick' (named from hunting wild boar with a spear) is a British Army name for the waterjet disrupter used on the Wheelbarrow robot against the IRA in the 1970s.
ref: 2013, Paula Reid, World's Most Dangerous Jobs:
glosses: A waterjet disruptor used to disable explosive devices.
examples: text: Above the truck there is frequently a slender vertical extension of the mast, called a pigstick.
ref: 1959, The Bluejackets' Manual, volume 15, page 198:
text: Haul away, keeping strain on both parts of the halyard so that the pigstick remains vertical as it goes up and doesn't foul the spreaders.
ref: 1983 January, Cruising World, page 148:
text: Pull the flag up with the hauling part, then tighten the downhaul part to bring the pigstick vertical.
ref: 1989, Roger C. Taylor, Knowing the ropes: a sailor's guide to selecting, rigging, and handling lines aboard:
text: As the owner of this sailboat, I fuss about on deck, lashing down oars and fishing rods, pigsticks and awnings, for what might be a bouncy overnight passage.
ref: 1997 July, Yachting, volume 181, number 7, page 70:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A staff that carries a flag or pennant above the mast of a sailboat.
examples: text: I send you an account of a pigstick at which I was the other day, if you care to insert it in your Magazine.
ref: 1876 June, Fin Mackoul, “A bit of hog-hunting”, in The Oriental Sporting Magazine, page 220:
text: The scene was far more picturesque than any Dutch picture, but the modern unromantic 'pigstick' is an infinitely finer sport than the original 'boar hunt,' and the only way the "gray boar" should meet his death.
ref: 1902, Letters and Sketches of Francis T. Warre Cornish:
text: It was at one of these great centres of sport and geniality in the merry month of March that Hamish McTavish decided to espouse the widow McKie, and by way of making it a really big occasion he organised a mammoth pigstick to precede the event […]
ref: 1917, Tatler: An Illustrated Journal of Society, the Drama, and Sport:
glosses: An event or gathering at which pigs are hunted for sport.
examples: text: Nellie has often begged food from her : she has seen the woman use the "pigstick" to thrash the child with, and heard cries and moans coming from the end house.
ref: 1912, The Cruelty Man: Actual Experiences of an Inspector of the N.S.P.C.C.:
text: We had to let the Germans come nearer, but it was impossible to let them come near when you saw them pointing their pigsticks at you, it put the fear of death in you and you wanted to shoot, but they wouldn't allow us […]
ref: 1973, Rumanian Review, volume 27, page 41:
text: Sensing something of an anticlimax, I administered to the rat a helpful prod in the ribs with the pigstick […]
ref: 1988, Richard Brigham, Guns and goshawks: country life and country sports, page 4:
text: In 1857, a Captain Harding of the Bengal Lancers fired his pistol in self-defense at the head of drunken sepoy who assaulted him with a pigstick.
ref: 2004, Lee Siegel, Love and Other Games of Chance: A Novelty, page 236:
glosses: A stick that is used for stabbing.