thunderstick
A gun or cannon, especially a rifle, as seen from the imagined perspective of an uncivilized person or an animal.
The man pointed his thunderstick at the buffalo, and with a great noise and fire, the buffalo fell down dead.
A narrow plastic balloon that is used as a promotional noise maker by hitting one against another.
Called “James Tenney and Milton Babbitt : American Iconoclasts,” the mini-festival begins on Saturday with a work by Mr. Tenney, who died in 2006, on a program including pieces by Larry Polansky, Michael Byron and Henry Cowell (the 1925 “Ensemble” for string quartet and thundersticks). Mr. Babbitt is honored on Sunday with a program that includes, among other works, a premiere by Christopher Buchenholz.
Where it comes from
From thunder + stick. Originally used by or ascribed to members of non-European cultures or anthropomorphized animals describing firearms.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry thunderstick (CC BY-SA 4.0).