thunderstick

== English == === Alternative forms === thunder-stick, thunder stick === Etymology === From thunder +‎ stick. Originally used by or ascribed to members of non-European cultures or anthropomorphized animals describing firearms. === Noun === thunderstick (plural thundersticks) A gun or cannon, especially a rifle, as seen from the imagined perspective of an uncivilized person or an animal. Synonym: fire-stick 1931 He Dog, interviewed by Mari Sandoz (John Colhoff, interpreter), in The Beaver Men: Spearheads of Empire (University of Nebraska Press, 1964): Two men with beards... carrying thundersticks... were in the village above... A narrow plastic balloon that is used as a promotional noise maker by hitting one against another.