Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DEM'I-CUL-VER-IN, n.

A large gun, or piece of ordnance; the least is ten feet long, and carries a ball of nine pounds weight and four inches diameter; that of ordinary size carries a ball of four inches and two-eighths diameter, and ten pounds eleven ounces in weight; the largest size is ten feet and a third in length, and carries a ball four inches and a half in diameter, and of twelve pounds eleven ounces in weight. – Johnson. Encyc.