to draw the longbow
Preserved but no longer current.
To exaggerate. The longbow was the famous English weapon till gunpowder was introduced, and it is said that a good archer could hit between the fingers of a man's hand at a considerable distance, and could propel his arrow a mile. The tales told about longbow adventures, especially in the Robin Hood stones, fully justify the applica- tion of the phrase.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to draw the longbow” mean?
To exaggerate. The longbow was the famous English weapon till gunpowder was introduced, and it is said that a good archer could hit between the fingers of a man's hand at a considerable distance, and could propel his arrow a mile. The tales told about longbow adventures, especially in the Robin Hood stones, fully justify the applica- tion of the phrase.
Is “to draw the longbow” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.