from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Dart \Dart\ (d[aum]rt), n. [OF. dart, of German origin; cf. OHG.
tart javelin, dart, AS. dara[eth], daro[eth], Sw. dart
dagger, Icel. darra[eth]r dart.]
1. A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the
hand; a short lance; a javelin; hence, any sharp-pointed
missile weapon, as an arrow.
[1913 Webster]
And he [Joab] took three darts in his hand, and
thrust them through the heart of Absalom. --2 Sa.
xviii. 14.
[1913 Webster]
2. Anything resembling a dart; anything that pierces or
wounds like a dart.
[1913 Webster]
The artful inquiry, whose venomed dart
Scarce wounds the hearing while it stabs the heart.
--Hannan More.
[1913 Webster]
3. A spear set as a prize in running. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Zool.) A fish; the dace. See {Dace}.
[1913 Webster]
{Dart sac} (Zool.), a sac connected with the reproductive
organs of land snails, which contains a dart, or arrowlike
structure.
[1913 Webster]