prae-pĭlātus, a, um, Part. [2. pila], furnished in front, i. e. tipped with a ball or button (not before the Aug. per.).
- I. Lit.: pila praepilata, Auct. B. Afr. 72: missilia, darts or javelins with a blunt point rounded like a ball, that they might not inflict wounds, something like our foils, Liv. 26, 51, § 17: hasta, Plin. 8, 6, 6, § 17: cornua, id. 9, 30, 50, § 95.
- II. Trop.: declamationes, quibus ad pugnam forensem, velut praepilatis, exerceri solebamus, Quint. 5, 12, 17.