pistol
Syllables: pis·tol/ˈpɪstəl/
pistol noun: a handgun.
Noun
pistol (plural pistols)
- A handgun
- The mechanical component of a fuse in a bomb or torpedo responsible for firing the detonator.
- A lively, high-energy person.
- She was gregarious, opinionated, and in charge, the kind of person you'd describe as a real pistol, and I was immediately drawn to her.2011, Diane Lierow, Bernie Lierow, Kay West, Dani's Story: A Journey from Neglect to Love, page 81
- KENT NELSON —Until my wife Inza convinced me there was more to life. Ah, she was a real pistol, that Inza.February 2012, Thomas Pugsley, Denial (episode) in Young Justice (TV series)
- An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, but closer than in a shotgun formation, with a running back lined up behind him.
Verb
pistol (third-person singular simple present pistols, present participle (US) pistoling or (UK) pistolling, simple past and past participle (US) pistoled or (UK) pistolled)
- To shoot (at) a target with a pistol.
pistol meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
pistol in Hindi
- handgun
- बंदूक़ bandūq, बंदूक bandūk, तमंचा tamañcā, पिस्तौल pistaul
pistol in Tamil
- handgun
- பிஸ்டல் pisṭal, துப்பாக்கி tuppākki
pistol in Marathi
- पिस्तूल, पिस्तुल, पिस्तूळ
pistol in Urdu
- handgun
- بَنْدُوق bandūq, پِسْتَول pistaul, تَپَنْچَہ tapanca, تَمَنْچَہ tamanca
More languagesFewer languages
- pistol in Bengali
- পিস্তল pistol
- pistol in Telugu
- పిస్టల్ pisṭal
- pistol in Malayalam
- കൈത്തോക്ക്, മടിത്തോക്ക്, ചെറുതോക്ക്
- pistol in Kannada
- ಕಿರುಕಯ್ಕೋವಿ
- pistol in Punjabi
- پستول pastol
- pistol in Gujarati
- પિસ્તોલ pistol, તમંચો tamañco
- pistol in Odia
- ପିସ୍ତଲ pistala
- pistol in Sinhala
- පිස්තෝලය pistōlaya
- pistol in Nepali
- पिस्तौल, पिस्तोल, पिस्तुल
- pistol in Pashto
- تفنګچه tofangča, تمانچه tamānča, تومانچه tomānča, توپنچه topanča
- pistol in Arabic
- مُسَدَّس musaddas, فَرْد fard, طَبَنْجَة ṭabanja, غَدَّارَة ḡaddāra
- pistol in Malay
- pistol
- pistol in Indonesian
- pistol
- pistol in Thai
- ปืนพก bpʉʉn-pók, ปืนสั้น bpʉʉn-sân
- pistol in Vietnamese
- súng ngắn, súng lục
- pistol in Myanmar
- သေနတ် senat
Examples of pistol in a sentence
- The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.
- To prevent any shooting accidents, remember to clear your pistol and stay aware of your surroundings.
- I noticed that the pistols were buffed in the update.
Forms of pistol
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pistols |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pistols |
| present participle US | pistoling |
| present participle UK | pistolling |
| past participle US | pistoled |
| past US | pistoled |
| past participle UK | pistolled |
| past UK | pistolled |
Origin of pistol
Probably from Middle French pistole, or via Middle English pistolet, from Middle French pistolet (“small firearm or small dagger”). The origin is unclear. If via German to Romance probably from Middle High German forms like pischulle from Czech píšťala (“firearm”, literally “tube, pipe”), from Proto-Slavic *piščalь, from *piskati, *piščati (“to squeak, whistle”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk-. Alternatively, if from Romance to German, from or related to Italian pistolese (“short dagger”), from Italian Pistoia (“a Tuscan town noted for its gunsmithing”).
Words formed from pistol
- air pistol
- autopistol
- bepistoled
- cap pistol
- cap-pistol
- captive bolt pistol
- dueling pistol
- duelling pistol
- horse pistol
- hot as a pistol
- hotter than a pistol
- hotter than a two dollar pistol
- machine pistol
- monkey's pistol
- muff pistol
- pistol carbine
- pistolcraft
- pistoleer
- pistol furniture
- pistolgram
- pistolgraph
- pistolgraphy
- pistol grip
- pistollike
- pistolman
- pistol pipe
- pistol shrimp
- pistol squat
- Pistolvania
- pistol-whip
- pistolwise
- pocket pistol
- rapid fire pistol
- service pistol
- signal pistol
- starter pistol
- starter's pistol
- starting pistol
- tiger pistol shrimp
- Very pistol
- water pistol
Phrases with pistol
Words that rhyme with pistol
Questions about pistol
- What does pistol mean?
- Pistol means a handgun.
- What is pistol in Hindi?
- Pistol in Hindi is बंदूक़ (bandūq), बंदूक (bandūk), तमंचा (tamañcā). See Pistol meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pistol?
- Pistol can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce pistol?
- Pistol is pronounced /ˈpɪstəl/.
- What is the plural of pistol?
- The plural of pistol is pistols.
Words near pistol in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pistol (page history and authors); pistol (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pistol (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pistol (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); پستول (Punjabi) (page history and authors); pistol (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pistol.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pistol.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pistol. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.