Trĕb'ū-chet or Trē'buck-et, n.

n. [Fr. trébuchet, a gin, trap, O. Fr. trébuquet, trabuchet, an engine of war for hurling stones, Pr. trabuquet, trabuc, Sp. trabuquete, trabuco, It. trabocchetto, trabucco; Fr. trébucher, O. Fr. trébuquier, to overturn, fall, Pr. & Sp. trabucar, Pg. trabucar, trebucar, It. traboccare, trambustare.]

1. A cucking-stool; a tumbrel. Cowell.
2. A kind of trap.
3. A machine used in the Middle Ages for throwing stones, &c., acting by means of a great weight fastened to the short arm of a lever, which, being let fall, raised the end of the long arm with great velocity, and hurled the stones with much force. Grose.
4. A kind of balance for weighing. [Obs.]