noun
- a firearm that is loaded from the rear of the barrel (the breech) rather than from the muzzle
Usage: historical; refers to firearms technology developed in the 19th century
Examples
- The breechloader was a major advancement over the muzzleloader in terms of speed and ease of loading.
- Civil War soldiers increasingly relied on breechloaders as the conflict progressed.
- The Spencer rifle was one of the most famous breechloaders of the 19th century.
- Breechloaders allowed soldiers to reload their weapons more quickly while in combat.
- By the late 1800s, most military forces had replaced muzzleloaders with breechloaders.