Adjacent Words

Gun definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GUN, n. An instrument consisting of a barrel or tube of iron or other metal fixed in a stock, from which balls, shot or other deadly weapons are discharged by the explosion of gunpowder. The larger species of guns are called cannon; and the smaller species are called muskets, carbines, fowling pieces, etc. But one species of fire-arms, the pistol, is never called a gun.
GUN, v.i. To shoot.
GUN'-BARREL, n. The barrel or tube of a gun.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
2: large but transportable armament [syn: artillery, heavy weapon, gun, ordnance]
3: a person who shoots a gun (as regards their ability) [syn: gunman, gun]
4: a professional killer who uses a gun [syn: gunman, gunslinger, hired gun, gun, gun for hire, triggerman, hit man, hitman, torpedo, shooter]
5: a hand-operated pump that resembles a revolver; forces grease into parts of a machine [syn: grease-gun, gun]
6: a pedal that controls the throttle valve; "he stepped on the gas" [syn: accelerator, accelerator pedal, gas pedal, gas, throttle, gun]
7: the discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies; "two runners started before the gun"; "a twenty gun salute" v
1: shoot with a gun

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English gonne, gunne Date: 14th century 1. a. a piece of ordnance usually with high muzzle velocity and comparatively flat trajectory b. a portable firearm (as a rifle or handgun) c. a device that throws a projectile 2. a. a discharge of a gun especially as a salute or signal b. a signal marking a beginning or ending 3. a. hunter b. gunman 4. something suggesting a gun in shape or function 5. throttle • gunned adjective II. verb (gunned; gunning) Date: 1622 transitive verb 1. a. to fire on b. shoot <gunned down by a hit man> 2. a. to open up the throttle of so as to increase speed <gun the engine> b. fire 3b <gunned the ball to first base> intransitive verb to hunt with a gun

Britannica Concise

Weapon consisting essentially of a metal tube from which a missile or projectile is shot by the force of exploding gunpowder or some other propellant. The term is often limited today to the so-called big guns, cannon larger than a howitzer or mortar. It may also be used to refer to military small arms such as the rifle, machine gun, and pistol, as well as to nonmilitary firearms such as the shotgun. Though the Chinese used gunpowder in warfare from the 9th cent., guns were not developed until the Europeans acquired gunpowder in the 13th cent. The earliest guns (c.1327) resembled old-fashioned soda bottles; they apparently were fired by applying a red-hot wire to a touchhole drilled through the top. Separating the barrel and the powder chamber resulted in breechloaders, which continued to be used in naval swivel guns and fortress wallpieces well into the 17th cent. Small arms, as distinguished from hand cannon, did not exist until the development of the matchlock in the 15th cent. See also flintlock, wheel lock.

U.S. Military Dictionary

1. A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity. 2. A cannon with tube length 30 calibers or more. See also howitzer; mortar.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 any kind of weapon consisting of a metal tube and often held in the hand with a grip at one end, from which bullets or other missiles are propelled with great force, esp. by a contained explosion. 2 any device imitative of this, e.g. a starting pistol. 3 a device for discharging insecticide, grease, electrons, etc., in the required direction (often in comb.: grease-gun). 4 a member of a shooting-party. 5 US a gunman. 6 the firing of a gun. 7 (in pl.) Naut. sl. a gunnery officer. --v. (gunned, gunning) 1 tr. a (usu. foll. by down) shoot (a person) with a gun. b shoot at with a gun. 2 tr. colloq. accelerate (an engine or vehicle). 3 intr. go shooting. 4 intr. (foll. by for) seek out determinedly to attack or rebuke. Phrases and idioms: go great guns colloq. proceed forcefully or vigorously or successfully. gun-carriage a wheeled support for a gun. gun-cotton an explosive used for blasting, made by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. gun crew a team manning a gun. gun dog a dog trained to follow sportsmen using guns. gun-shy (esp. of a sporting dog) alarmed at the report of a gun. gun-site a (usu. fortified) emplacement for a gun. jump the gun colloq. start before a signal is given, or before an agreed time. stick to one's guns colloq. maintain one's position under attack. Derivatives: gunless adj. gunned adj. Etymology: ME gunne, gonne, perh. f. the Scand. name Gunnhildr

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gin Gin, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gan, Gon (?), or Gun (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ginning.] [OE. ginnen, AS. ginnan (in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut open, cf. OHG. inginnan to begin, open, cut open, and prob. akin to AS. g[=i]nan to yawn, and E. yawn. ? See Yawn, v. i., and cf. Begin.] To begin; -- often followed by an infinitive without to; as, gan tell. See Gan. [Obs. or Archaic] ``He gan to pray.'' --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gun Gun, n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir., Gael.) A LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E. mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.] 1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles by the explosion of gunpowder, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge behind, which is ignited by various means. Muskets, rifles, carbines, and fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are called small arms. Larger guns are called cannon, ordnance, fieldpieces, carronades, howitzers, etc. See these terms in the Vocabulary. As swift as a pellet out of a gunne When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer. The word gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing from a man long before there was any gunpowder found out. --Selden. 2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a cannon. 3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind. Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or manner of loading as rifled or smoothbore, breech-loading or muzzle-loading, cast or built-up guns; or according to their use, as field, mountain, prairie, seacoast, and siege guns. Armstrong gun, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong. Great gun, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence (Fig.), a person superior in any way. Gun barrel, the barrel or tube of a gun. Gun carriage, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved. Gun cotton (Chem.), a general name for a series of explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity. Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See Pyroxylin, and cf. Xyloidin. The gun cottons are used for blasting and somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for making collodion. See Celluloid, and Collodion. Gun cotton is frequenty but improperly called nitrocellulose. It is not a nitro compound, but an ethereal salt of nitric acid. Gun deck. See under Deck. Gun fire, the time at which the morning or the evening gun is fired. Gun metal, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron. Gun port (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a cannon's muzzle is run out for firing. Gun tackle (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from the gun port. Gun tackle purchase (Naut.), a tackle composed of two single blocks and a fall. --Totten. Krupp gun, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named after its German inventor, Herr Krupp. Machine gun, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns, mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the gun or guns and fired in rapid succession, sometimes in volleys, by machinery operated by turning a crank. Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute with accurate aim. The Gatling gun, Gardner gun, Hotchkiss gun, and Nordenfelt gun, named for their inventors, and the French mitrailleuse, are machine guns. To blow great guns (Naut.), to blow a gale. See Gun, n., 3.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gun Gun, v. i. To practice fowling or hunting small game; -- chiefly in participial form; as, to go gunning.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(guns, gunning, gunned) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A gun is a weapon from which bullets or other things are fired. He produced a gun and he came into the house... The inner-city has guns and crime and drugs and deprivation. ...gun control laws. N-COUNT 2. A gun or a starting gun is an object like a gun that is used to make a noise to signal the start of a race. The starting gun blasted and they were off. N-COUNT 3. To gun an engine or a vehicle means to make it start or go faster by pressing on the accelerator pedal. (mainly AM) He gunned his engine and drove off. VERB: V n 4. see also airgun, machine-gun, shotgun, sub-machine gun 5. If you come out with guns blazing or with all guns blazing, you put all your effort and energy into trying to achieve something. The company came out with guns blazing. PHRASE: PHR after v 6. If you jump the gun, you do something before everyone else or before the proper or right time. (INFORMAL) It wasn't due to be released until September 10, but some booksellers have jumped the gun and decided to sell it early. PHRASE: V inflects 7. If you stick to your guns, you continue to have your own opinion about something even though other people are trying to tell you that you are wrong. (INFORMAL) He should have stuck to his guns and refused to meet her. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Fire-arm.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

He is in the gun; he is drunk: perhaps from an allusion to a vessel called a gun, used for ale in the universities.

Moby Thesaurus

AA gun, Armstrong, BAR, BB gun, Benet-Mercie, Beretta, Big Bertha, Bren, Bren gun, Browning, Cain, Colt, Garand, Garand rifle, Garling, Gatling, Gatling gun, Hotchkiss, Krupp, Lancaster, Lee-Enfield, Lee-Metford, Lewis, Lewis gun, Long Tom, Luger, Mannlicher, Marlin, Martini-Henry, Mauser, Maxim, Minie, Mossberg, Nimrod, Oerlikon, Paixhans, Parrott, Remington, Savage, Smith and Wesson, Snider, Spandau, Springfield, Stevens, Thompson submachine gun, Vickers, Vickers-Maxim, Webley-Scott, Winchester, Y-gun, adventurer, air gun, antiaircraft gun, antitank gun, antitank rifle, apache, archer, arquebus, arrest, artillerist, artilleryman, assassin, assassinator, atom gun, atomic cannon, atomic gun, automatic, automatic pistol, barrel, bazooka, beat, bell, bloodletter, bloodshedder, blowgun, blowpipe, blunderbuss, bolt, bolt-action rifle, bomb thrower, bombard, bombardier, bomber, bowman, bowshot, bravo, breech, breechloader, brown Bess, bruiser, bulldog, bullet, burker, burp gun, butcher, butt, button man, caliver, cane gun, cannibal, cannon, cannoneer, carabineer, carbine, carronade, chamber, charge, chase, chassepot, check, checkmate, cock, condottiere, course, crack shot, culverin, cutoff, cutthroat, cylinder, dart gun, dead shot, dead stop, deadeye, deadlock, desperado, detonate, detonation, discharge, dog, drive, drop, eject, ejection, end, endgame, ending, eradicator, escopeta, executioner, exterminator, falcon, falconet, fell, field gun, fieldpiece, final whistle, fire, fire off, firearm, firelock, flamethrower, flintlock, flush, follow the hounds, forty-five, forty-four, fowl, fowling piece, free lance, full stop, fusil, fusillade, garroter, gat, go hunting, good shot, goon, gorilla, grinding halt, gun carriage, gun for, gunfire, gunman, gunner, gunsel, gunshot, gunslinger, hackbut, halt, hammer, handgun, harpoon gun, harquebus, hatchet man, hawk, head-hunter, heater, hedgehog, hellion, hired gun, hired killer, hireling, hit, hit man, holy terror, homicidal maniac, homicide, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, horse pistol, hound, howitzer, hunt, hunt down, hunter, jack, jacklight, killer, let fly, let off, load, lock, lockout, machine gun, machine gunner, machine pistol, magazine, man-eater, man-killer, manslayer, marksman, markswoman, massacrer, matador, matchlock, mercenary, mortar, mountain gun, mug, mugger, murderer, muscle man, musket, musketeer, musketoon, muzzle, muzzle-loader, needle gun, peashooter, pedrero, pelt, pepper, pesticide, petronel, pick off, piece, pistol, plug, plug-ugly, poison, poisoner, pom-pom, popgun, pot, potshoot, potshot, prime, professional killer, prowl after, receiver, repeater, revolver, riddle, ride to hounds, rifle, rifleman, rod, rodman, roughneck, run, salvo, sawed-off shotgun, sear, semiautomatic, sharpshooter, shikar, shoot, shoot at, shoot down, shooter, shooting iron, shot, shotgun, sight, sit-down strike, six-gun, six-shooter, skysweeper, slaughterer, slayer, snipe, sniper, soldier of fortune, sport, spray, stalemate, stalk, stand, standoff, standstill, start, stay, still-hunt, stock, stoneshot, stop, stoppage, strangler, strike, strong-arm man, submachine gun, swivel, take a potshot, targetshooter, tattoo, terror, thirty-thirty, thirty-two, thug, torpedo, tough, toxophilite, track, trail, trapshooter, trigger, trigger man, ugly customer, volley, walkout, wind-gun, work stoppage, zip gun