Definition of sear

Email this page to a friend

< sear

sear >

sear²    (sîr) KEY 

NOUN:

The catch in a gunlock that keeps the hammer halfcocked or fully cocked.

---

ETYMOLOGY:
Probably French serre, something that grasps, from Old French, lock, from serrer, to grasp, from Vulgar Latin *serrre, from Late Latin serre, to bolt, from Latin sera, bar, bolt; see ser-² in Indo-European roots