Throwing stick

Throw´ing stick`

1.

(Anthropol.) An instrument used by various savage races for throwing a spear; - called also throw stick and spear thrower. One end of the stick receives the butt of the spear, as upon a hook or thong, and the other end is grasped with the hand, which also holds the spear, toward the middle, above it with the finger and thumb, the effect being to bring the place of support nearer the center of the spear, and practically lengthen the arm in the act of throwing. In Mexico, one such device is called the atlatl.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	throwing stick - a device resembling a sling that is used in various primitive societies to propel a dart or spear dart thrower, spear thrower, throwing board device - an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose; "the device is small enough to wear on your wrist"; "a device intended to conserve water"
	2.	throwing stick - a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower boomerang, throw stick kiley, kylie - an Australian boomerang; one side flat and the other convex projectile, missile - a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled Australia, Commonwealth of Australia - a nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; Aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony