1. An early portable firearm used in the 16th and 17th centuries, typically mounted on a forked rest.
Usage: archaic; historical

Examples

• The soldier carried a hackbut into battle, supporting it with a wooden fork.
• Hackbuts gradually replaced crossbows as the primary ranged weapon in European armies.
• The hackbut required a lit match to fire, making it slower than modern firearms.
• Medieval armies trained hackbut units to advance in coordinated formations.
• The invention of the hackbut marked a significant shift in military technology during the Renaissance.