n. [ F., fr. LL. cartellus a little paper, dim. fr. L. charta. See 1st Card. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Mil.) An agreement between belligerents for the exchange of prisoners. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A letter of defiance or challenge; a challenge to single combat. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He is cowed at the very idea of a cartel., Sir W. Scott.

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Cartel, or
Cartel ship, a ship employed in the exchange of prisoners, or in carrying propositions to an enemy; a ship beating a flag of truce and privileged from capture. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To defy or challenge. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

You shall cartel him. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ F. marteler, fr. martel, marteau, hammer, a dim. fr. L. martulus, marculus, dim. of marcus hammer. Cf. March to step. ] To make a blow with, or as with, a hammer. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ OF., hammer of iron. ] A weapon resembling a hammer, often having one side of the head pointed; -- used by horsemen in the Middle Ages to break armor. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] A small hammer used by marble workers and sculptors. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ It. martello hammer. The name was orig. given to towers erected on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia for protection against the pirates in the time of Charles the Fifth, which prob. orig. contained an alarm bell to be struck with a hammer. See Martel. ] (Fort.) A building of masonry, generally circular, usually erected on the seacoast, with a gun on the summit mounted on a traversing platform, so as to be fired in any direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The English borrowed the name of the tower from Corsica in 1794. [ 1913 Webster ]