The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
PISTOL
Definition of PISTOL
noun
A handgun
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Probably from Middle French pistole, or via Middle English pistolet, from Middle French pistolet (“small firearm or small dagger”). The origin is unclear. If via German to Romance probably from Middle High German forms like pischulle from Czech píšťala (“firearm”, literally “tube, pipe”), from Proto-Slavic *piščalь, from *piskati, *piščati (“to squeak, whistle”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *pīṣk-. Alternatively, if from Romance to German, from or related to Italian pistolese (“short dagger”), from Italian Pistoia (“a Tuscan town noted for its gunsmithing”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
6 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
10th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
2%
of traced words share this origin (576)
branch · 15.4% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, PISTOL · 3 relatives in the game
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PISTOL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 28 boards so far. 40 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 8, 29 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 136, 3 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 14 days.
First found by a player on Day 8, 29 May 2026.
Built from these letters
PISTOL starts with P and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ILOPST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
3 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start PISTOL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 8
Could you have found PISTOL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 8 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER