voorlaaier, noun

/ˈfʊə(r)laɪə(r)/
Forms:
Also voorlaier.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, voor front + laaier loader.
historical
A muzzle-loader. Also attributive. See also roer sense a.
1934 Sunday Times 15 Apr. (Swart)One gun appears to be an old muzzle-loader ‘voorlaaier’, of home-made type.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 206Tower muskets, horse-pistols, duelling pistols, fearsome elephant guns, pronk voorlaaier and panslaner..you will find them all in the country museums.
1951 H.C. Bosman in L. Abrahams Jurie Steyn’s Post Office (1971) 85The percussion cap came in, to take the place of the flintlock that the old Boers used in their voorlaaiers.
1975 D.H. Strutt Clothing Fashions 217Besides the ever-necessary voorlaaier gun, powder horn and bandolier, the Voortrekker man carried a snuff-box.
1987 O. Musi in Drum Nov. 93Now lest you hot-headed types reach for your voorlaiers or ‘necklaces’ — depending on your political persuasion or your mental age — let me hasten to add that my plea is to leave ‘Oom Paul’ where he is in Phirara’s Church Square.
1993 G. Dominy in Natal Witness 31 Dec. 8Assegais rattled at Isandlwana; voorlaaiers were brandished and khaki-clad figures fulminated at the Voortrekker Monument and Blood River.
A muzzle-loader. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19341993

Browse Related Words

By Category

Weapons and Armaments

By Origin

Afrikaans

By Usage

historical
voorkis, nounn.Voorlezer, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English