slungshot means A maritime tool consisting of a weight (the "shot") affixed to the end of a long cord, used to cast line from one location to another and sometimes as an improvised weapon. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 92 out of 100.
Why “slungshot” is a great word
SLUNGSHOT — [Noun] A maritime tool and improvised weapon consisting of a weight, such as a knot or metal ball, attached to the end of a cord. From the past participle 'slung' of the verb 'sling' (to throw or hurl) + 'shot' (a projectile or heavy weight). Unlike a "sling" (which employs a pouch between cords to launch a stone) or a "blackjack" (which is a rigid, purpose-made club), a slungshot is a flexible cord-and-weight tool of maritime origin. It is the heft of a monkey's fist knot in a sailor's palm, the grim pendulum swing of a lead weight from a tarred line, and the forgotten lump of lead in a sea-chest—a testament to how readily utility curdles into violence with a flick of the wrist.
Etymology
From slung + shot.
noun
- A maritime tool consisting of a weight (the "shot") affixed to the end of a long cord, used to cast line from one location to another and sometimes as an improvised weapon.“All at once the blood dropped out of her cheeks as the mercury drops from a broken barometer-tube, and she melted away from her seat like an image of snow; a slung[-]shot could not have brought her down better.”