"A crossbow is a type of elastic ranged weapon in similar principle to a bow, consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is handheld in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun. It shoots arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels. The medieval European crossbow was called by many other names including crossbow itself, most of which were derived from the word ballista, an ancient Greek torsion siege engine similar in appearance.
Although having the same launch principle, crossbows differ from bows in that a bow´s draw must be maintained manually by the archer pulling the bowstring with fingers, arm and back muscles and holding that same form in order to aim (which demands significant physical strength and stamina), while a crossbow uses a locking mechanism to maintain the draw, limiting the shooter´s exertion to only pulling the string into lock and then releasing the shot via depressing a lever/trigger. This not only enables a crossbowman to handle stronger draw weight, but also hold for longer with significantly less physical strain, thus capable of better precision." - (en.wikipedia.org 19.10.2019)
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