Association of British Scrabble Players

Culture > Sport > Archery


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


arbalest arbalist arbelest arblast a CROSSBOW with a mechanism for drawing the string. [Ult. from L. arcus, bow, + ballista].
[Note: I don't know whether archery as a sport actually has a crossbow section, but I've included them for good measure. When first introduced, crossbows were regarded as an invention of the Devil and deuced unsporting because a crossbow bolt could penetrate even a knight's plate armour. It was, of course, perfectly sporting for the knights to wear plate armour in the first place while chopping up peasants who couldn't even afford a duffel-coat].
arbalester arbalister arblaster a crossbowman.
archer one that shoots with a bow and arrow.
archeress a female archer.
archery the sport of shooting with a bow and arrow.
arcubalist a crossbow.
arrow a straight, pointed missile, made to be shot from a bow; (verb) to indicate the position of by arrow.
arrowhead the head or pointed part of an arrow.
arrowless without arrows.
barb a subsidiary backward-facing projection near the point of an arrow, fish-hook, etc.
bolt a projectile fired by a crossbow.
bowhunt to hunt with a bow and arrow.
bowhunter a person who hunts with a bow and arrow.
bowhunting hunting with a bow and arrow > BOWHUNTINGS.
bowman bowsman an archer; a hunter with a bow.
bowshot the distance to which an arrow can be shot from a bow.
bowstring the string of a bow; (verb) to strangle with a bowstring > BOWSTRINGS, BOWSTRINGING, BOWSTRINGED or BOWSTRUNG. The verb is possibly not actually part of archery as a sport, unless tempers run very high.
bowyer one who makes or repairs bows.
bracer an archer's leather arm-guard.
bull the centre of a target.
bullseye the centre of a target.
butt a mark or mound for archery or shooting practice.
clout the mark or target, usu in long-distance shooting.
crossbow a weapon for shooting bolts, formed of a bow placed crosswise on a stock.
crossbower one who uses a crossbow.
crossbowman a person (as a soldier or a hunter) whose weapon is a crossbow.
dorlach (Gaelic) a quiver for arrows.
dribber (Obs.) one who shoots arrows weakly or badly.
fistmele the measurement of the distance from the grip to the string of a bow, usually measured by placing a fist on the grip with the thumb extended towards the bowstring.
fletch to provide (an arrow) with feathers for flight.
fletcher a maker of arrows.
fletching the feathers of an arrow.
forkhead (Spenser) an arrowhead.
hewgh a sound imitating the whistling of an arrow.
inner in archery, a hit next to the bull.
longbow a bow drawn by hand as distinct from the crossbow.
longbowman an archer who uses a longbow.
moulinet a machine for bending a crossbow.
nock notch the attachment on the rear end of an arrow which holds it in place on the bow string; (verb) to fit an arrow to a bowstring.
outer the outermost ring on a target, or a shot striking it.
petticoat the part of an archery target outside the scoring area.
popinjay a figure of a parrot set up to be shot at.
quarrel a projectile fired by a crossbow.
quiver a holder for arrows; (verb) to shake, tremble.
quiverful the contents of a full quiver > QUIVERFULS or QUIVERSFUL.
ragbolt a bolt with barbs to prevent withdrawal.
recurve a bow whose tips are curved towards the back.
riser the handle of a bow; a rod securing a stair-carpet.
rover a random or long-distance mark in archery.
sagittary in heraldry, a representation of a centaur or mounted archer.
shaft an arrow.
sheaf a bundle of twenty-four arrows.
toxophilite one fond of or expert at archery.
toxophilitic related to archery.
toxophily love of archery; archery.
wand a slat six feet by two inches used as a target in archery.
windac windas windlass an instrument for bending a crossbow.