Pisʹtols

So called from Pistoja, in Tuscany, where they were invented in 1545. (Latin, pistorium.)

To discharge one’s pistol in the air. To fight a man of straw; to fight harmlessly in order to make up a foolish quarrel.

“Dr. Réyille has discharged his pistol in the air [that is, he pretends to fight against me, but discharges his shot against objections which I never made].”—W. E. Gladstone: Nineteenth Century, November, 1885.

· ·

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.