sponge gun
n.— «The officers used something that is commonly called a sponge gun it’s a less than lethal weapon that we have. The weapon was deployed in an effort to avoid having to shoot this man.» —“Santa Maria Man Threatens People With Large Knife” by Carina Corral KSBY-TV (San Luis Obispo, California) Apr. 24, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s a word for the act of being so focused on documenting an important event, such as a wedding or an eclipse, that your effort to capture it distracts from experiencing the event itself? The A Way with Words Facebook group has some...
Skip, a sailing enthusiast from Gainesville, Florida, has been pondering radio protocols, such as the distress signal mayday!, and sécurité, which announces any of various warnings. There’s also pan-pan, repeated three times, a call that...