linstock

1. (historical) A pointed forked staff, shod with iron at the foot, to hold a lighted match for firing cannon.Examples: "[…] now, sir, (as we were to ascend), their master gunner (a man of no mean skill and courage, you must think,) confronts me with his linstock ready to give fire;"; "The offer likes not: and the nimble gunner / With linstock now the devilish cannon touches, [Alarum, and chambers go off] / And down goes all before them."; ""[…] And now, our news are told, noble Crevecoeur, and what think you they resemble?" "A mine full charged with gunpowder," answered Crevecoeur, "to which, I fear, it is my fate to bring the kindled linstock. Your news and mine are like flax and fire, which cannot meet without bursting into flame, or like certain chemical substances which cannot be mingled without an explosion.""historical