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talon

noun

  1. stack of undealt cards
L28409 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈtælən/

name

Etymology: The surname derives from Old French talon (“heel”) as a nickname for a deformity, or for a swift runner; also diminutive of Talbot and Talleyrand. The modern given name is associated with English talon.

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. A male given name from English of modern usage.

    'Very well, I shall call you Talon from now on. What does the name mean, in the tongue of the small folk?' 'It is a claw, like that found on a hawk,' Talon said.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English talon, taloun, from Old French talon (“heel, spur”), from Medieval Latin tālōnem, from Proto-Romance *tālōnis, from Latin tālus (“ankle”).

  1. A sharp, hooked claw of a bird of prey or other predatory animal.

    and now doth gaſtly death With greedie talients gripe my bleeding hart, And like a Harpye tires on my life.

    It may be tried also whether birds may not have something done to them when they are young , whereby they may be made to have greater or longer bills , or greater and longer talons ?

  2. One of certain small prominences on the hind part of the face of an elephant's tooth.
  3. A kind of moulding, concave at the bottom and convex at the top; an ogee. (When the concave part is at the top, it is called an inverted talon.)
  4. The shoulder of the bolt of a lock on which the key acts to shoot the bolt.

    The locks were constructed with two or three levers, and sometimes with a common tumbler. The talon is the secret; for after locking the bolt out, the key is turned round again quietly to catch the nib and force the talon up

  5. The remaining stock of undealt cards.
  6. A document that could be detached and presented in exchange for a block of further coupons on a bond, when the original block had been used up.