A small, dart-like projectile, originally dropped from aircraft or used in weapons, shaped like a tiny arrow.
French 'flechette' (little arrow), the diminutive form of 'flèche' (arrow). The term emerged in military usage during World War I when such projectiles were developed.
During World War I, pilots dropped thousands of flechettes from planes, and they became so feared that the term entered military vocabulary—a tiny word for a weapon that changed how wars were fought from above.
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