noun
- An early type of portable firearm or musket used in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Usage: archaic; historical
Examples
- The soldier carried a hagbut into battle, one of the first firearms to see widespread military use.
- Hagbuts gradually replaced crossbows as the preferred ranged weapon in European armies.
- The hagbut required a long loading time and a lit match to fire.
- Historical records show that hagbuts were common among infantry units by the 1600s.