The distance to which a shot was reckoned to range straight, without appreciable drooping from the force of gravity. It varied from 300 to 400 yards, according to the nature of gun; and was measured by the first graze of the shot fired horizontally from a gun on its carriage on a horizontal plane. The finer practice of rifled guns is much abating the use of the term, minute elevations being added to the point-blank direction for even the very smallest ranges.
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
(Germ. stand-punkt.) Place of standing; point of view. An expression lately introduced from the Germ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.