gunn.
/ɡʌn/, U.S. /ɡən/ I. The weapon.† 2. In the 15th cent. used somewhat vaguely for a large engine of war, often translating words meaning ‘mangonel, ballista, battering-ram’. Obsolete.The commonly cited example in K. Alis. 3268 is due to the scribe of the 15th cent. Lincoln's Inn MS., the reading in MS. Laud 622 being gynnes.† 4. A missile hurled from an engine of war. Obsolete.
1.
a. A weapon consisting essentially of a metal tube (massive enough to require to be mounted on a carriage or a fixed substructure) from which heavy missiles are thrown by the force of gunpowder, or (in later use) by explosive force of any kind; a piece of ordnance, cannon, ‘great gun’.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun]
gun1339
enginec1380
great gunc1430
ordnancec1450
cannona1460
piece1512
spitfire1611
tube1763
barker1815
by and by1857
big gun1886
centre-fire1889
1339 in H. T. Riley Memorials London (1868) 205 Item, in Camera Gildaulæ sunt sex Instrumenta de latone, vocitata Gonnes, et quinque roleres ad eadem. Item, peletæ de plumbo pro eisdem Instrumentis, quæ ponderant iiiic libræ et dimidium. Item, xxxii libræ de pulvere pro dictis Instrumentis.
1346 in Archaeologia 32 381 Et eidem Thomæ de Roldeston, per manus Willielmi de Stanes, ad opus ipsius Regis pro gunnis suis ixc xii. lib. sal petræ [etc.].
1365–70 Accts. Exchequer King's Remembrancer (P.R.O.: E101/395/1) ix. gunnes de cupro [received at the Tower]..ij. magna gunnes de cupro [in King's private wardrobe]..ij. gunnes magna de cupro et ix. gunnes parva de cupro [sent to constable of the king's castle in the Isle of Sheppey].
c1370 J. Arderne Practica (Sloane) in Promptorium Parvulorum 219 Cest poudre vault à gettere pelottes de fer, ou de plom, ou d'areyne, oue vn instrument qe l'em appelle gonne.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame iii. 553 Went this foule trumpes soun As swifte as pelet out of gonne Whan fire is in the poudre ronne.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xxi. 293 Setteþ bowes of brake and brasene gonnes, And sheteþ out shot ynowh.
1404 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 395 Item unum gun cum pulvere pro guerra.
1473 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 8 The Kynge..losyde his gonnys of ordynaunce uppone them.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 830 We may nocht fle fra ȝon barge, wait I weill. Weyll stuft thai ar with gwn and ganȝe [so ed. 1570; MS. gwn ganȝe] off steill.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. bii* Gapand gunnys of brase..That maid ful gret dyn.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 469/1 Except Tyndall tell vs that Adam prynted bokes, and made glasses, and shotte gunnes too.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) lxi. 1 The furyous gonne..When that the bowle is rammed in to sore, And that the flame cannot part from the fire, Cracketh in sonder.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. Ded. 8 This roy of gret renowne vas murdreist be ane misforttunit gown.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 272 She carried then fourteen Guns, and had about two hundred Men on board.
1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) ii. xviii. 128 Gunners do allow three Ounces of Powder for every hundred Weight of Metal in Iron Guns: and Four Ounces..in Brass Guns.
1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. 14 A Frigate built Ship of 22 Guns.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India II. x. ii. 407 He mounted a battery of ten guns on a high and solid mound of earth.
1852 Ld. Tennyson Ode Wellington 97 He that gain'd a hundred fights, Nor ever lost an English gun.
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 60 The guns of the British nation may be divided into four classes—Park, or Field artillery, Siege guns, or battering train, garrison guns, and marine artillery.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 50 A Gun (Smooth bore) is divided into five parts, which are named Cascable, First re-inforce, Second re-inforce, Chase, Muzzle.
1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 7 Mar. 6/1 The guns of the Royal Artillery were..admirably served.
b. Guns are fired in honour of persons and events, at festivities, and as signals; in the navy, morning gun and evening gun, ‘warning-pieces’ fired at morning and evening respectively; hence taken to indicate the times at which these guns are fired.
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society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > gun fired as signal > [noun]
gun1556
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 51 The xxti day of the same monyth after came in the lorde amrelle of France un to Grenwych with xiiij. goodly gallys, and many other sheppes, and there was shotte many gonnys.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 62 On Bartylmew evyne was shott dyvers goonnes at the gattes in London.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. xiii. 61 Giue them three gunnes for their funerals.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 21 We gaue them a-sterne, two Gunnes as warning peeces of great danger, and tackt about.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 22 May (1970) I. 153 Nothing in the world but going of guns almost all this day [in honour of the king's health].
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 271 We put out English Colours, which they saluted with a Gun without shot.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. lxvi. 266 The Gunners..gave every one a Gun to the Island.
1712 S. Sewall Diary 8 Mar. (1973) II. 682 Many Healths were drunk, and Guns fired at drinking them.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iii. 145 It being now represented to him, that..the evening gun might possibly discover him..he was prevailed on to omit it for [the] future.
1836 F. Marryat Three Cutters iv, in Pirate & Three Cutters 268 Give her a gun.
1899 A. West Recoll. I. vi. 206 A damaged elbow..did not prevent my sleeping till the morning gun.
c. figurative.
ΚΠ
1535 H. Latimer Serm. (1584) 2 What great peeces [sc. of ordnance] hath he [the devil] had of Bishoppes of Rome, which haue destroyed whole Citties and countries, and haue slayne and brent many! what great Guns were those!
1651 J. Cleveland Poems 41 You're doubly free From the great Guns, and squibbing Poetry.
1820 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 188 Great oratorical guns are to be fired to-day.
1888 A. T. Pierson Evangelistic Work xi. 107 Sydney Smith trailed the guns of his satire against the ‘nest of consecrated cobblers’.
1893 19th Cent. Feb. 193 The Government could not of course run away from their guns.
d. gun of position n. a heavy field-gun, not designed for executing quick movements.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > heavy piece
gun of position1858
Woolwich infant1871
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 126 This result once secured, it is obvious that a field-piece or gun of position would become a rifle on a large scale.
1900 Daily News 10 Jan. 8/3 The 12-pounder quick-firing garrison artillery gun of 12 cwt.,..is neither a field gun nor a gun of position.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun]
enginec1380
guna1400
machine1583
machination1605
machinament1658
a1400–50 Alexander 2227 Sum with gunnes of þe grekis girdis vp stanes.
14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 594/35 Mangonale, a mangnel, or a gunne.
c1400 Rom. Rose 4176 They ne dredde noon assaut Of ginne, gunne, nor skaffaut.
c1400 Melayne 1288 With dartis kenely owte þay caste, Bothe with myghte & mayne, With gownnes & with grete stones. Graythe gounnes stoppede those gones [? = gomes, ‘men’] With peletes vs to payne.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 429 Vespasian trowblede the wall sore with gunnes and with oþer engynes [L. ictu arietis].
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xli. 152 He made gounes & other engynes to be caste ayenste the walles.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. cciii. f. cxxiiiiv The walles of the Castell fyll without stroke of Gunne or other Engyne.
1534 R. Whittington tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Tullyes Offyces i. sig. C.2 The gonnes [L. aries] beate downe the walles, yet they are to be receyued.
1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 30 The word Gun was in use in England for an Engine to cast a thing from a man, long before there was any Gun-powder found out.]
3.
a. (Originally handgun n.) Any portable firearm, except the pistol; a musket, fowling-piece, rifle, etc.Quot. 1495 may belong to sense 1.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > hand-gun other than pistol
gun1409
1409 Accts. Exchequer King's Remembrancer (P.R.O.: E101/44/17) iij. canons de ferro ove v. chambres, un handgone.
1446 in Archaeologia 22 63 Bought ii handgunnes deere.
1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 64 Preamble Armours Defensives, as..Hauberts Curesses Gonnes Speres Mare~spikis.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 19v To plaie at all weapones: to shote faire in bow, or surelie in gon.
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland 98 They use Guns, which they..with a great deal of superstition enchaunt that they should never miss.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho I. iii. 82 His gun was slung across his shoulders.
1876 W. Besant & J. Rice Golden Butterfly I. Prol. i. 6 Both men carried guns.
1897 Butler, etc. Hist. Birds IV. 65 A long single-barrelled gun called the ‘goose-gun’.
b. A pistol or revolver. Originally U.S.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > pistol
pistolet1550
potguna1556
pistol?1560
snapper1587
pistoletto1647
pop1708
gun1744
cracker1751
stick1781
barking iron1785
barker1815
young gun1822
buffer1824
reporter1827
iron1828
flute1842
cannon1901
1744 A. Hamilton Itinerarium (1907) 150 ‘Then surely you had needs ride with guns’ (meaning my pistols).
1851 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) 80 He might..not fire unless his gun has a revolving chamber with more than one load.
1890 Harper's Mag. Dec. 160/2 That six-shooter you gave Pete was such a pretty gun I couldn't resist when Pete offered to swap.
1902 C. J. C. Hyne Mr. Horrocks, Purser 56 Then he made a great fuss and pulled out a gun.
1913 C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy iii. 62 The man from the Bar-20 used two guns.
1948 This Week Mag. 9 Oct. 22/2 Police believe that if more people carried guns, murders and suicides would zoom.
1971 Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 1 The dockers had been unloading a cargo of 72 tea chests containing pistols brought from Rotterdam... The discovery of the guns led to an immediate alert.
c. gun down: (in trap-shooting) with the butt of the gun held below the shooter's elbow.
ΚΠ
1903 Forest & Stream 24 Jan. 79 Shooting to begin at 2 p.m. sharp. First cup, 25 birds, handicap, ‘gun down’.
d. Any of various devices for discharging missiles or substances through a tube, as by the expansive force of compressed air; usually with defining word, as air gun n., blow-gun, Flit gun, grease-gun, popgun n. 1, spring gun n. 2 (which see).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > device for discharging missiles through tube > [noun]
gun1895
1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 261/1 The best Insect Powder Gun in the market in which to use insect powder.
1930 Engineering 31 Jan. 126/1 The Webb concrete gun has been used by the city's day labour gangs in lining operations.
1937 Times 13 Apr. p. iii/3 As many as 3,000 gallons of cellulose preparations are mixed each week, so that 1,000 car bodies can receive colour sprayed from 120 ‘guns’.
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxi. 227 The drug used was in a liquid form and one of the gang possessed a ‘gun’ loaded with it. He sprayed this dope at the favourites [at horse-racing].
1968 Times 29 Apr. 2/7 The ‘gun’ is a new way of giving injections without puncturing the skin. It uses a fine but very powerful jet to penetrate the skin.
1968 Times 27 May 25/2 The company has developed a new tear gas gun.
e. Athletics. The starting pistol; (hence) the start of a race.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > starting signal
startc1612
starting1827
flag1856
red flag1893
gun1900
1900 G. Swift Somerley 83 But when the final gun has gone and you are ‘off’, nervousness, ‘needle’, everything goes.
1925 T. E. Jones Track & Field 18 Keep the mind concentrated on the gun.
1959 Times 23 Apr. 16/6 Smith..took the lead from the gun.
f. A hypodermic syringe used by drug addicts. U.S. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for applying medicaments > [noun] > syringe > hypodermic syringe
vaccinator1803
hypodermic1875
needle-syringe1894
gun1904
hypo1925
hype1936
Syrette1941
1904 San Francisco Chron. 30 Oct. (Suppl.) 4/1 I..reached out my hand for my master, the little syringe, called the ‘gun’, which always lay ready at my bedside for the early morning ‘shot’.
1923 N. Anderson Hobo vii. 102 One type of dope fiend is the Junkie. He uses a ‘gun’ or needle to inject morphine or heroin.
1926 G. H. Maines & B. Grant Wise-crack Dict. 8 Gun-toter, user of a hypodermic needle.
1933 Amer. Speech 8 27/2 The hypodermic needle and its accessories used for the injection of narcotics are called the gun or artillery.
1955 U.S. Senate Hearings (1956) VIII. 4164 Gun, dropper, a syringe.
g. = electron gun n. at electron n.2 Compounds 2. Also attributive, as gun electrode.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > particle avoiding strong interaction > electron > [noun] > device emitting beams
electron gun1924
gun1933
undulator1951
1933 Electronics Dec. 333/1 We shall now consider the gun.
1953 S. W. Amos & D. C. Birkinshaw Television Engin. I. iv. 52 In cathode-ray tube guns the beam strikes the gun electrodes and releases secondary electrons from them.
1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production ii. 19 A small gun in the camera-tube generates a continuous beam of electrical particles (electrons).
1971 Physics Bull. Oct. 590/1 It offered the advantages of..a colour tube with a single gun.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon > from ballista
springalc1330
pellet1372
gunc1385
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Cleopatra. 637 With grysely soun out goth the grete g [o] nne, And heterly they hurtelyn al atonys, ffrom the top doun comyth the grete stonys.
c1475 (?c1425) Avowing of King Arthur (1984) l. 1023 Þere come fliand a gunne, And lemet as þe leuyn.
5. transferred.
a. One who carries a gun, one of a shooting party.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shooter > [noun]
gunner1753
gun1818
shootist1864
gunnist1894
rifle1933
1818 J. Keats Let. ?29 Dec. (1958) II. 18 I went..shooting on the heath... There were as many guns..as Birds.
1822 Viscountess Anson Let. 5 Nov. in Creevey Papers (1903) II. ii. 52 780 head of game were killed by 10 guns.
1870 H. Meade Ride New Zealand 284 Five guns went before breakfast, and brought back 107 [pigeons].
1886 Ld. Walsingham & R. Payne-Gallwey Shooting (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) I. 145 Where birds are plentiful much delay may be avoided by providing at least as many retrievers as there are ‘guns’.
1897 Pall Mall Mag. Nov. 402 The irritable gun..stamps his foot impatiently.
1970 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 13 Aug. 4/9 The price of being a ‘gun’—the name for the shooter—is almost prohibitively high.
b. An artilleryman, a gunner.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > artilleryman
gunner1344
bombardier1562
cannoneer1562
artilleryman?1566
engineer1569
artillerist1579
bombarder1583
topchee1623
fireman1625
zumboorukchee1840
culverineer1881
red-leg1890
gun1896
horse gunner1896
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm > artilleryman
gunner1344
cannoner1517
bombardier1562
cannoneer1562
artilleryman?1566
engineer1569
artillerist1579
bombarder1583
topchee1623
fireman1625
pyrobolist1696
zumboorukchee1840
culverineer1881
red-leg1890
gun1896
mud hog1918
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 200 There was no one like 'im, 'Orse or Foot, Nor any o' the Guns I knew.
1898 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 97 The guns are cool, precise and nerveless.
c. In plural = gunnery-lieutenant n. at gunnery n. Compounds 2. Naval slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > officer with specific duty > [noun] > gunnery officers
gunner1495
quarter-gunner1617
gunner's mate1708
gunnery-lieutenant1867
gun captain1901
gunnery jack1904
gun1916
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Carry On! 25 The first lieutenant..is ‘Jimmy the One’; the gunnery and torpedo lieutenants, the ‘Gunnery Jack’ and ‘Torpedo Jack’ respectively, but, to their messmates in the wardroom, these three officers, with the officer borne for navigation duties, are usually ‘Number One’, ‘Guns’, ‘Torps’ and ‘Pilot’.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words Gunnery Jack (also Guns), the Gunnery Lieutenant on board ship.
1962 W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 57 Guns, wardroom nickname and vocative for the gunnery officer.
d. = gunman n. 1. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm
shot1598
gun-man1624
popper1733
gunsman1766
firer1807
pluffer1828
gun1931
gunsel1942
gun-slinger1953
1931 C. W. Willemse in Detective Fiction Weekly 15 Aug. 123/1 Hey, cap, there's a ‘gun’ outside. Wants to see you.
1958 R. Chandler Playback xxiii. 182 Goble was beaten up..tonight—by a hired gun named Richard Harvest.
1965 T. Capote In Cold Blood (1966) iv. 275 He was always talking about..making his living as a hired gun.
6. Phrases.
a. as a gun, used as an intensive or superlative expression = perfectly, absolutely, esp. in (as) sure as a gun: beyond all question, to a dead certainty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > of course, certainly [phrase] > beyond question
(as) sure as ——a1413
if your cap be of wool1546
as sure as a club1584
(as) sure as a guna1640
(as) sure as God made little apples1796
you can gamble on that1862
no matter how (or whichever way, etc.) you slice it1936
that's for sure1971
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Prophetesse i. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ddddv/2 Ye are right, Master, right as a gun.
1655 J. Mennes & J. Smith Musarum Deliciæ 79 But when he thought her as sure as a gun She set up her taile and away she run.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar iii. i. 32 As sure as a Gun now, Father Dominic has been spawning this young, slender Anti-christ.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew As sure as a Gun, or Cock-sure.
1734 H. Fielding Intrig. Chambermaid i. i. 3 'Tis as pure, and as sure, and secure as a Gun, The young Lover's Business is happily done.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 24 Gad's my life, sure as a gun that's her voice.
a1864 N. Hawthorne Septimius Felton (1872) 237 You will kill yourself, sure as a gun!
1881 Cent. Mag. 23 45/2 Hello! where is that boy? Gone, as sure as guns.
b. to blow guns: = to blow great guns at great gun n. Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > blow (of the wind) [verb (intransitive)] > blow strongly
besom?a1400
bluster1530
overblow1587
ruffiana1616
to blow great guns1779
to blow guns1833
1833 A. Constable Let. 15 Feb. in J. Constable Corr. (1962) 273 It rains every night & the wind has blown guns.
1920 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 7 Oct. (1928) II. 50 It's blowing guns to-day.
c. to stand (also stick) to one's gun(s): to maintain one's position, not to flinch or retire before an attack.
ΚΠ
1841 S. Warren Ten Thousand a Year vi. 198 Titmouse, though greatly alarmed, stood to his gun pretty steadily.
1881 C. E. L. Riddell Myst. Palace Gardens i. 10 He stuck to his guns.
1899 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Brown, V.C. 259 An animated colloquy ensued. Manvers stuck to his guns.
d. son of a gun, a somewhat depreciatory term for ‘man, fellow’. (See quot. 1867.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun]
churla800
werec900
rinkeOE
wapmanc950
heOE
wyeOE
gomeOE
ledeOE
seggeOE
shalkOE
manOE
carmanlOE
mother bairnc1225
hemea1250
mother sona1250
hind1297
buck1303
mister mana1325
piecec1325
groomc1330
man of mouldc1330
hathela1350
sire1362
malea1382
fellowa1393
guestc1394
sergeant?a1400
tailarda1400
tulka1400
harlotc1405
mother's sona1470
frekea1475
her1488
masculinea1500
gentlemana1513
horse?a1513
mutton?a1513
merchant1549
child1551
dick1553
sorrya1555
knavea1556
dandiprat1556
cove1567
rat1571
manling1573
bird1575
stone-horse1580
loona1586
shaver1592
slave1592
copemate1593
tit1594
dog1597
hima1599
prick1598
dingle-dangle1605
jade1608
dildoa1616
Roger1631
Johnny1648
boy1651
cod1653
cully1676
son of a bitch1697
cull1698
feller1699
chap1704
buff1708
son of a gun1708
buffer1749
codger1750
Mr1753
he-man1758
fella1778
gilla1790
gloak1795
joker1811
gory1819
covey1821
chappie1822
Charley1825
hombre1832
brother-man1839
rooster1840
blokie1841
hoss1843
Joe1846
guy1847
plug1848
chal1851
rye1851
omee1859
bloke1861
guffin1862
gadgie1865
mug1865
kerel1873
stiff1882
snoozer1884
geezer1885
josser1886
dude1895
gazabo1896
jasper1896
prairie dog1897
sport1897
crow-eater1899
papa1903
gink1906
stud1909
scout1912
head1913
beezer1914
jeff1917
pisser1918
bimbo1919
bozo1920
gee1921
mush1936
rye mush1936
basher1942
okie1943
mugger1945
cat1946
ou1949
tess1952
oke1970
bra1974
muzhik1993
1708 Brit. Apollo 7–9 July You'r a Son of a Gun.
1840 R. H. Barham Cynotaph in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 112 (note) We heard the rough voice of a son of a gun Of a watchman ‘one o'clock!’ bawling.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xxii. 219 What a happy feller I once thought you, and what a miserable son of a gun you really are!
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage.
1883 Harper's Mag. Oct. 759/2 Thou lubberly, duck-legged son of a gun.
e. to carry (also hold) (big) guns: to be in a position of strength or power; to have (also carry) the guns for: to have the ability for (something).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > [verb (intransitive)]
to give (the) law (to)a1225
reignc1325
to rule the roastc1500
to bear (the) rooma1529
to have, bear, carry, strike the stroke1531
to bear (a or the) sway1549
to bear a (also the) rout1550
(to have) swing and sway1552
to rule the rout1570
master1656
carry1662
to lay down the law1762
to rule the roost1769
to carry (also hold) (big) guns1867
the world > action or operation > ability > be capable of [verb (transitive)] > have the ability for
to measure up to1854
cut1900
to have (also carry) the guns for1961
1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia no. 1824 He carries too big a Gun for me; I must not engage him.]
1867 G. Meredith Let. 13 Dec. (1970) I. 364 We carry big but immoveable guns, and the work you can supply will be heartily acceptable.
1887 S. Butler Note-bks. (1912) xvi. 256 This gentleman had a decided manner and carried quite as many guns as the two barristers.
1930 Times 25 Mar. 17/3 The Chancellor—whose..concern is to make the two ends of his Budget meet—necessarily carries the biggest guns.
1939 A. Powell What's become of Waring? iv. 106 But do you really think I carry the guns?.. I shouldn't like to think that I was not going to do him justice.
1961 I. Murdoch Severed Head xii. 104 ‘Why she should have followed it up beats me.’ ‘You didn't ask her?’.. ‘Of course not! As I told you, she carries too many guns.’
1961 Times 8 Nov. 18/7 Miss Catherine Lacy has not the vocal guns for the part of Clytemnestra.
1963 Times 26 Feb. 3/5 It was Rangers and Celtic who held the biggest guns.
f. to beat (also jump) the gun: Athletics to make a false start; (hence figurative) to act before the permitted or agreed time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > [verb (intransitive)] > be premature (in acting)
to go off half-cocked1833
break1897
to beat (also jump) the gun1933
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > race [verb (intransitive)] > make false start
to beat the pistol1890
to beat (also jump) the gun1933
1905 S. Crowther Rowing & Track Athletics 302 False starts were rarely penalized..and so shiftless were the starters and officials that ‘beating the pistol’ was one of the tricks which less sportsmanlike runners constantly practised.]
1933 C. Littlefield Track & Field Athletics 31 Do not learn how to try to beat the gun.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xxii. 239 Acting swiftly, I did a backwards leap of about five feet six. It was the manœuvre which is known in America as beating the gun.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §59 Jump the gun, to make a false start.
1951 Economist 24 Nov. 1258/1 Col. Hanley, judge-advocate of the Eighth Army in Korea, first jumped the gun with statistics.
1955 R. Bannister First Four Minutes 20 It seemed so unnecessary to beat the gun in a race that would last for 3¾ minutes.
1958 Economist 1 Nov. 391/1 The Prime Minister has jumped the gun by announcing that it will take the form of government advances to building societies.
1960 Guardian 7 Nov. 8/4 Both candidates jumped the traditional gun of Labour Day.
g. Used in plural and contrasted with butter to describe a government policy in which the necessity for military expansion is weighed against the importance of social and economic development.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > political philosophy > specific policies or advocacy of > [noun] > warlike policies
gun1936
hawkishness1967
1936 Times 18 Jan. 12/3 Speaking on Germany's rearmament Dr. Goebbels said:—We can well do without butter, but not without guns, because butter could not help us if we were to be attacked one day. Some people say there is a world conscience which is the League of Nations,..but I prefer to rely on guns.
1937 Daily Herald 15 Jan. 2/5 A scheme to dissuade Hitler from his ‘guns rather than butter’ policy.
1938 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 26 May in Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 331 In every country..the supposed necessity to prepare for war is being systematically used to prevent every kind of social advance. It goes without saying that this happens in the Fascist countries, but ‘guns before butter’ also rules in the democracies.
1968 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 23 Nov. 32/1 The incredible American economy has such unprecedented wealth that it can afford both guns and butter.
1968 Guardian 4 Dec. 8/2 The wars in the Yemen and against Israel have added economic depression to endemic poverty. Is it the beginning of a ‘guns or butter’ argument in Egypt?
h. at gunpoint: threatened by a gun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > threat or threatening > [phrase] > threatened with a weapon
at the sword's point1890
at gunpoint1958
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [adverb] > at gunpoint
at gunpoint1958
1958 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 4 June 1/5 Baskar was charged after two men robbed cab driver Benjamin Katz..of $25 at gunpoint.
1962 Times 3 May 17/3 Three escaping criminals..board a lightship and order the crew at gunpoint to help them reach shore.
i. to give the gun (see give v. 14b).
II. Transferred uses.† 11. slang. (See quot. 1720 and cf. gunner n. 6.) Obsolete.
7. Mining. (See quots.) Perhaps Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. K Gun of Wood, the same with a hollow Plug.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Gun is also a name given by the miners, to an instrument used in cleaving rocks with gunpowder. It is an iron cylinder..having..a hole drilled through it to communicate with the inside of the hole in the rock.
8. slang and dialect. A flagon (of ale). to be in the gun (see quot. 1785.) [Compare gawn n.] Perhaps Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > [noun] > specific quantity of
cue1603
cee1605
jug?1635
gun1674
ale kilderkin1704
swank1726
nip1736
pint1742
pt.1850
yard of ale1872
square1882
half1888
butcher1889
rabbit1895
rigger1911
sleever1936
tank1936
middy1941
tallboy1956
tube1969
tinnie1974
1674 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 23 A Gun, a great flagon of Ale sold for 3d. or 4d.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 469 Cap: Powell..invited me on board,..where we had a good dinner, of English pouderd beefe & other good meate, with store of Wine, & great Gunns, as the manner is.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Gun In the Gun, Drunk.
1729 Theobald in Nichols Illustr. Lit. Hist. (1817) II. 246 I think there is a vehicle in the University, which they call a ‘Gun of Ale’.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (at cited word) He's In the Gun, he is drunk, perhaps from an allusion to a vessel called a gun, used for ale in the universities.
9. slang or jocular. A tobacco pipe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > pipe
pipe1588
tobacco-pipe1596
gage1676
gun1708
tube1736
steamer1811
gum-bucket1893
1708 E. Cook Sot-weed Factor 4 Out our Landlord pulls a Pouch,..and straight begun, To load with Weed his Indian Gun.
a1848 R. Kerr Maggie o' Moss (1891) 93 We each filled our ‘gun’ with the best Glasgow spun [tobacco].
10. Glass-making. (See quot. 1889.)
ΚΠ
1889 Encycl. Brit. X. 662 (Plate Glass) The breadth of the plate..is determined within the limits of the table by the two sides of the ‘gun’, an apparatus consisting of two plates of cast-metal, placed in front of the roller, and bolted together by cross bars at a distance apart which can be easily altered and adjusted according to the breadth of plate the apparatus is intended to control.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > [noun] > an invention, fiction, story
fablec1300
fantasy1362
feigning1388
invention?a1513
story?1531
finctionc1540
figment1577
fingure1593
fiction1599
knavigation1613
flam1632
gun1720
novel1764
fabrication1790
fudge1797
gag1805
myth1840
make-up1844
concoction1885
fictionalization1954
1720 Spiller in Anti-Theatre No. 13. ⁋8 Robinson Crusoe..has distinguished himself by many strange and unaccountable stories, which your smart fellows in conversation are pleased to call guns.
12. slang. A thief; also ‘rascal’, ‘beggar’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun]
thief688
bribera1387
stealer1508
taker?a1513
goodfellow1566
snatcher1575
lift1591
liftera1592
larcin1596
Tartar1602
lime-twig1606
outparter1607
Tartarian1608
flick1610
puggard1611
gilt1620
nim1630
highwayman1652
cloyer1659
out-trader1660
Robin Goodfellow1680
birdlime1705
gyp1728
filch1775
kiddy1780
snaveller1781
larcenist1803
pincher1814
geach1821
wharf-rat1823
toucher1837
larcener1839
snammer1839
drummer1856
gun1857
forker1867
gunsmith1869
nabber1880
thiever1899
tea-leaf1903
gun moll1908
nicker1909
knocker-off1926
possum1945
scuffler1961
rip-off1969
society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > roguery, knavery, or rascalry > [noun] > rogue, knave, or rascal
harlot?c1225
knavec1275
truantc1290
shreward1297
boinarda1300
boyc1300
lidderon13..
cokinc1330
pautenerc1330
bribera1387
bricouna1400
losarda1400
rascal?a1400
knapea1450
lotterela1450
limmerc1485
Tutivillus1498
knavatec1506
smy?1507
koken?a1513
swinger1513
Cock Lorel?1518
pedlar's French1530
cust1535
rabiator1535
varletc1540
Jack1548
kern1556
wild rogue1567
miligant1568
rogue1568
tutiviller1568
rascallion1582
schelm1584
scoundrel1589
rampallion1593
Scanderbeg1601
scroyle1602
canter1608
cantler1611
skelm1611
gue1612
Cathayana1616
foiterer1616
tilt1620
picaro1622
picaroon1629
sheepmanc1640
rapscallion1648
marrow1656
Algerine1671
scaramouch1677
fripon1691
shake-bag1794
badling1825
tiger1827
two-for-his-heels1837
ral1846
skeezicks1850
nut1882
gun1890
scattermouch1892
tug1896
natkhat1901
jazzbo1914
scutter1940
bar steward1945
hoor1965
1857 A. Mayhew Paved with Gold (1858) ii. i. 70 I tell you, you ain't a-going to make a gun (thief) of this here young flat.
1863 in W. B. Jerrold Signals Distress 9 A year or two's practice in the delicate profession of a ‘gun’ (a pickpocket).
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 219 He..was always scraping the run bare as he could for fat stock, and let these old guns have their fling till he'd got time to..clear em all out.
1894 A. Morrison Tales Mean Streets 255 Circumstances had always been against Scuddy Lond, the gun. The word gun..is a friendly synonym for thief.
13. In full gun shearer. An expert sheep-shearer. Australian and New Zealand.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > [noun] > sheep-shearer
clippera1382
shearer1388
sheep-shearer1539
forcer1553
fleecer1612
tiger1865
tomahawker1870
snagger1887
boss of the board1896
gun1898
jingling Johnny1904
barrowman1940
ryebuck shearera1957
barrower1965
1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Gun..generally speaking a man who can shear over 200 a day.
1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) iii. 39 There I saw some of our greatest gun (fast) shearers in action.
1952 J. Cleary Sundowners iii. 121 A ‘gun’ shearer, a crack man, was always welcome in a team.
1956 G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) iii. 24 While perhaps this may be all right for odd ‘guns’ it is not a good practice for the majority of shearers or learners.
1970 Telegraph (Brisbane) 18 Feb. 5/1 (heading) ‘Gun’ shearer only 11.
14. Surfing slang. A large heavy surfboard used for riding big waves.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > surfboard > types of
paddle-board1785
bellyboard1957
pig-board1959
malibu1962
gun1963
hot dog1963
pop-out1963
sausage board1963
skim-board1965
wakeboard1966
log1967
pintail1967
longboard1970
boogie board1976
bodyboard1979
thruster1982
mini-mal1988
funboard1992
kitesurfer1994
kiteboard1996
quad1999
1963 Pix 28 Sept. 62/1 Big Gun, big surfboard for heavy surfs.
1965 M. Farrelly & C. McGregor This Surfing Life vi. 69 I haven't a gun board myself. For the Australian surf that I call big..the board I use is just a long hot-dog board.
1969 Surfer 9 vi. 57 Aipa rides the first wave, a long green wall, accelerating his gun to tremendous velocity across the face of the wave.
1970 Surf '70 (N.Z.) 44/2 While in Hawaii I had two boards. They were an 8 ft 9 in ‘hot-dog’ and a 9 ft 6 in tracker type gun.
Compounds
C1. General relations:
a. Simple attributive.† gun hammer n. Obsolete† gun hoy n. Obsolete† gun peck n. Obsolete† gun tampion n. Obsolete
gun-action n.
ΚΠ
1897 B'ham Weekly Post 8 May 4/6 Richard Hill, gun-action filer.
gun-battery n.
ΚΠ
1816 H. Clarke Hist. War I. 319/2 The mortar and gun-batteries of the enemy.
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Gun Battery, a defense constructed of earth faced with green sods or fascines, sometimes of gabions filled with earth.
gun-belt n.
ΚΠ
1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1048 A..cop who wears his gunbelt in bed.
gun-bore n.
ΚΠ
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) II. 345 The whole length of the gunbore.
gun-breeching n.
ΚΠ
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 105 A gun-breeching till of late years, was what it still remains in muskets used in the army, simply a plug screwed into the end of the barrel.
gun-butt n.
ΚΠ
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed ii. 31 To drag down the slayer till he could be knocked on the head by some avenging gun-butt.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xi. 228 A hand more apt for a rope or a gunbutt..than a pen.
gun-cart n.
ΚΠ
1898 Cent. Mag. Apr. 928/2 [He] most ingeniously ran his gun-cart far into the surf in the wake of a receding wave.
gun-cattle n.
ΚΠ
1846 H. W. Torrens Remarks Uses Mil. Hist. 107 (note) The breed of gun cattle has much degenerated of late years.
gun company n.
ΚΠ
1897 Outing 30 282/1 The two gun companies were transferred to the infantry arm of the service.
gun-crew n.
ΚΠ
1863 T. W. Higginson Army Life (1870) 92 Even among the gun-crews, not a man was hurt.
gun-cupboard n.
ΚΠ
1892 W. W. Greener Breech-loader 180 If..a dust-proof gun-cupboard, it will last longer.
gun-detachment n.
ΚΠ
1860 Man. Artill. Exerc. ii. 22 The medium 12-pounder requires two gun detachments.
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms (at cited word) The cannoneers assigned to the service of a single gun, formed in double rank, constitute a gun detachment.
gun draught n.
ΚΠ
1846 H. W. Torrens Remarks Uses Mil. Hist. 107 (note) The bullock, useful as he is for heavy gun draft in this country.
gun drug n. (drug n.2)
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Artil. Exerc. 583 The 7-inch R.M.L. gun of 7 tons may be transported by land..by heavy gun drug for 25 tons.
gun emplacement n.
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Artil. Exerc. 84 The roads, or lines of communication between the gun park and various gun emplacements.
gun factory n.
ΚΠ
1780 in Cal. Virginia State Papers I. 372 The warrant for Six thousand pounds on account of the Gun Factory.
1812 Niles' Reg. 3 60/2 Messrs. Coggswell and Hosford are erecting a gun factory in Albany.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) (at cited word) Elswick..was formerly an adjunct of the Royal Gun Factory.
gun-flash n.
ΚΠ
1950 J. Bussell Puppets & I iv. 85 Gun flashes (made with wickless cigarette-lighters) denote the start of a battle.
1957 M. K. Joseph I'll soldier no More (1958) ix. 170 Over to the left, gunflashes lit the sky.
gun-founder n.
ΚΠ
1549 in Acts Privy Council (1890) II. 287 To Giles Pacquet, gonfounder, towardes the making of certeyne peces of brasse.
1628 R. Norton Gunner 44 That all his Gunne~founders should thenceforth cast all Cannons of 18 Dyametres of their Bores in length.
1688 J. S. Fortification 132 By this a Gun-Founder may cast Guns, according to demand.
gun-foundry n.
ΚΠ
1870 Daily News 21 Oct. 3/1 Bourges..having an arsenal and gunfoundries.
gun-gear n.
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-gear, everything pertaining to its handling.
1883 W. C. Russell Sailors' Lang. Gun-gear, left-handed rope used for securing cannons on board ship.
1896 A. Austin Jameson's Ride ii If sound be our sword, and saddle, And gun-gear.
gun-guard n.
ΚΠ
1897 S. L. Hinde Fall Congo Arabs 124 The officer had the rearguard and more particularly the gunguard under supervision.
ΚΠ
1485 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 50 Gonne hamers..iij.
ΚΠ
1726 London Gaz. No. 6454/2 A Gun Hoy of the Burthen of 70 Tons.
gun-licence n.
ΚΠ
1886 W. W. Fowler Year with Birds 9 The gun-licence and its own rapid flight give it a fair chance of escape.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 1 Oct. 9/4 For not having his gun licence on his person, W. Whitta was fined $10 and costs.
1965 ‘A. Nicol’ Truly Married Woman 92 He had not bothered to apply for a gun licence.
gun-line n.
ΚΠ
1945 Diamond Track (Army Board, N.Z.) 25/2 The defensive power of an anti-tank gun-line.
1968 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 11 Aug. 2/1 HMAS Hobart has won an American ‘fleet citation’ for action..while on gunline duty off the Vietnam coast.
gun-match n.
ΚΠ
1647 N. Nye Art of Gunnery (title page) The art of Gunnery. Wherein is described the true way to make..Gun-match, [etc.].
1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (rev. ed.) App. p. xlii With quick match..or with gun-match, they fire them.
gun mounting n.
ΚΠ
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Gun mountings, the framework upon which the guns on a vessel are mounted, that is the carriages with their fittings and fixtures.
gun-mouth n.
ΚΠ
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Proem. sig. B6 What Job 41. 19. speaks of the Leviathans mouth, I may say of these mens Gun-mouthes, Out of these Gun-mouthes go burning lamps,..and sparks of fire leap out of their Gun-nostrils.
gun-nipple n.
ΚΠ
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. xv. 280 The powder in the gun-nipples cannot be kept dry.
gun-nostril n.
ΚΠ
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Proem. sig. B6 Out of these Gun-mouthes go burning lamps,..and sparks of fire leap out of their Gun-nostrils.
gun-park n.
ΚΠ
1748 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 4) I. 135 On the East or Lower-part of the Town, is the Gun-yard, commonly called the Park, or the Gun-park, where is a prodigious Quantity of Cannon of all Sorts for the Ships of War.
1879 [see gun emplacement n.]. 1940 ‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk i. ii. 27 Guides dashed off to meet the column and lead it to the gun-parks and vehicle-parks already selected.
1943 Roof over Britain 25 The guns are spaced around the sides of the gun park, with the command post at the centre.
ΚΠ
1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 72 Gonne hamurs iij, Gonne pekkes viij.
gun-position n.
ΚΠ
1901 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 73 From the gun-position one could look down upon line upon line of trenches.
gun quoin n.
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Artil. Exerc. 98 4 and 5 scotch the wheels with the gun quoins.
gun-rack n.
ΚΠ
1799 Sporting Mag. 14 107 One of the hooks in the gun-rack caught the trigger.
1838 J. McDonald Biogr. Sketches N. Massie 38 His gun-rack was examined, and there hung his rifle and his pouch in their usual place.
1969 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 19 Dec. 9/7 (advt.) Wooden Gun Rack. A favorite gift for the hunter in the family.
gun-range n.
ΚΠ
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxvii. 356 If I am fortunate enough to stalk within gun-range.
gun roller n.
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Artil. Exerc. 96 The special gun roller, when in use, rests on two gudgeon plates fitted to the cheeks of the overbank or top carriage.
gun-ship n.
ΚΠ
1841 L. M. Child Lett. from N.Y. viii. 59 You probably recollect that he built a large gun-ship for the Turkish Sultan.
1898 P. H. Colomb in National Rev. Aug. 842 That fighting ships—that is, gun-ships—should no longer be supplied, as at present universally, with torpedoes.
gun-shop n.
ΚΠ
1865 Atlantic Monthly 15 717 The better class of workmen had gone..to private gun-shops in the North.
1893 M. Beerbohm Let. 13 Aug. (1964) 47 The window of a gun-shop.
1940 Illustr. London News 197 22 (caption) Ranks of guns—some of them of the largest calibres—in this British gun-shop betoken good supplies of these naval weapons.
gun-sight n.
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-sight.
gun-stand n.
ΚΠ
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. viii. 89 I jumped at once to the gun-stand.
gun-steel n.
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 May 7/1 Gun-steel in this country is subjected to the severest tests.
ΚΠ
1485 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 69 Gonne Tampyons.
gun-team n.
ΚΠ
1897 Cavalry Tactics xvi. 112 If the attack succeeds, the guns must be carried off or disabled; the easiest way for the former would be to utilise the gun-team horses.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 3/2 Horses..capable of drawing weight at the pace required in a gun-team.
gun-trade n.
ΚΠ
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 94 The Birmingham gun-trade.
gun-trial n.
ΚΠ
1898 Engin. Mag. 16 112/1 Krupp's gun-trial grounds.
gun-wad n.
ΚΠ
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 457 Gun wads are stated to have no effect on the velocity of the ball.
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Gun-wad, a wad for a gun..used..to keep the ammunition in place either in a gun-barrel or in a paper or metal shell.
gun-wadding n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Gun-wadding, circular pieces of card-board, cloth, felt, and chemically prepared substances, used to keep down the charge of ball or shot, &c. in a gun.
gun-wharf n.
ΚΠ
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Arcenal de marine, a royal dock-yard, with its warren or gun-wharf.
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 110 The guns at the Portsmouth gun-wharf.
gun wheel n.
ΚΠ
1879 Man. Artil. Exerc. 95 Scotch the gun wheels with handspikes.
gun-yard n.
ΚΠ
1748Gun-yard [see gun-park n.].
b. Objective.
gun-bearer n.
ΚΠ
1883 G. Allen in Knowledge 17 Aug. 97/1 Their [rabbits'] hereditary foe, man, the possible hunter and probable gun-bearer.
gun-boring n.
ΚΠ
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. III. vi. i. 345 This Thing, called La Révolution, which,..hangs over France, noyading, fusillading, fighting, gun-boring.
gun-carrying n.
ΚΠ
1896 Daily News 4 Nov. 7/2 The gun-carrying power of the torpedo vessels.
gun-fighting n.
ΚΠ
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Proem. sig. B2v Gun-fighting Ships.
gun-firing n.
ΚΠ
1848 A. H. Clough Corr. 22 May (1957) I. 209 The perpetual gun-firing gave me a headache.
gun-forger n.
ΚΠ
1694 London Gaz. No. 3008/4 Whoever gives notice of him to Mr. John Parmiter, Gun forger,..shall have a Guinea.
gun-forging n.
gun-handling n.
ΚΠ
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Proem. sig. B5 These are the Gun-handling and Canon-firing Lads of the World.
gun-pulling n.
ΚΠ
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Roads of Destiny xvi. 271 The by-standers assert that it was met by the most beautiful exhibition of lightning gun-pulling ever witnessed in the Southwest.
gun-testing n.
ΚΠ
1898 Westm. Gaz. 14 Feb. 7/3 Orders have been issued for a gun-testing party to be despatched from the Sheerness School of Gunnery.
gun-toter n.
ΚΠ
1925 O. P. White Them was Days 120 This opened up the field for the renegade white man..the gun-toter, [etc.].
1948 Sat. Rev. 28 Aug. 37/1 His steps were the measured pace of a gun toter.
gun-toting n.
ΚΠ
1912 I. S. Cobb Back Home 293 I reckon none of you young fellows..can remember when this wasn't a gun-toting country down here?
1969 Listener 23 Jan. 103/3 One can imagine the sight of the gun-toting..in all the Westerns, joined together as one fusillade.
c. Instrumental.
(a)
gun-battle n.
ΚΠ
1945 Everybody's Digest Aug. 89 A gun battle used to bring a puncher out ‘a-smokin'’.
1967 Listener 13 Apr. 486/1 In Aden, British troops and extremists fight gun battle.
gun-fight n.
ΚΠ
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος Proem. sig. B v b Great roaring Gun-fights.
gun-murder n.
ΚΠ
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxxvi. 332 My old hostility to gun-murder was forgotten.
(b)
gun-armed adj.
ΚΠ
1938 19th Cent. Feb. 198 Germany had but few submarines, and of these not many were gun-armed.
gun-equipped adj.
ΚΠ
1897 Daily News 8 Mar. 5/2 Another silent host of hooded, shrouded, and gun-equipped warriors.
gun mounted adj.
ΚΠ
1846 H. W. Torrens Remarks Uses Mil. Hist. 107 We, too, have our war chariots, gun-mounted.
d. Forming, with a prefixed numeral, an adjectival compound qualifying ship, frigate, etc.
ΚΠ
1748 J. Lind Lett. Navy (1757) ii. 95 That every captain of a forty gun ship..have a power to hold a court martial.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Head A seventy-four gun ship.
1808 ‘P. Plymley’ Two More Lett. on Catholics vii. 30 Three forty gun frigates landed 1100 men under Humbert.
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster II. xvi. 221 I..married a couple on board of a..ten-gun brig.
C2. † gun dust n. Obsolete the metallic dust produced in the boring of cannon. † gun-sleeved adj. Obsolete having gun-shaped sleeves. † gun-trap n. Obsolete a trap which when touched discharges a firearm.
gun-sighting n.
ΚΠ
1905 Daily Chron. 5 Apr. 8/5 Gun-sighting platforms.
gun apron n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > covers for guns
hammer stall1802
sheepskin1802
gun apron1876
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Aprons, Gun, covers for the protection of the vent and tangent blocks of guns against rain and dirt.
gun-barrel n. (see barrel n. 7); also transferred and in combinations gun-barrel grinder, gun-barrel maker, gun-barrel prover.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [adjective]
roundc1325
cylindriac1612
cylindrical1646
cylindraceous1676
cylindric1688
cylindrala1711
gun-barrel1747
barrelled1853
cylindriform1870
barrel-shaped1871
roller-type1900
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > barrel
firing barrel1370
ratch1575
barrel1644
ratcheta1650
gun-barrel1747
spout1879
1747 B. Franklin Exper. & Observ. Electr. 12 Fix a needle to the end of a suspended gun-barrel.
1789 (title) An Essay on Shooting, containing the various Methods of Forging, Boring, and Dressing Gun Barrels.
1834 S. Cooper Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 466 Millers, starchmakers, horn and pearl-workers, needle, edge-tool, and gun-barrel grinders.
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 291 It cannot be too often repeated, that a gun barrel is a spring, to all intents and purposes.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Gun barrel maker..Gun barrel prover.
1864 S. Hibberd Rose Bk. 245 Gun-Barrel Budding.
1864 S. Hibberd Rose Bk. 246 Bud it there at once just under one of the leaf~rings, ‘gun-barrel’ fashion.
1904 Westm. Gaz. 19 Jan. 10/1 The recent gun-barrel fight in Birmingham.
1907 ‘Artifex’ & ‘Opifex’ Causes of Decay in Brit. Industry ii. 25 Gun-barrel welding is one of the handicrafts lost to Birmingham.., whilst it is thriving in Belgium.
1961 C. H. Douglas-Todd Pop. Whippet 53 If she has no spring of ribs, a gun-barrel front and so on..do not regard her as a foundation brood bitch.
1970 New Yorker 22 Aug. 67/1 The children's kind of blindness was identified as tunnel, or gun-barrel, vision—a constriction of the visual fields.
gun-beam n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 168 Gun-beam, the principal beam in the fore deck, which supports the main weight of the gun in its crutch.
gun-brig n. a two-masted ship of war, now obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > gunboat
artillery boat1759
gun-boat1793
gun-vessel1800
gun-brig1801
schooner-gun-vessel1806
gunship1841
turret-ship1862
turret-vessel1862
pelter1890
1801 Ld. Nelson in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) IV. 314 Captain Rose..volunteered his services to direct the Gun-brigs.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xvii. 283 Our gun-brigs, a sort of vessel that will certainly d—n the inventor to all eternity.
gun-bright n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Gun-bright, Dutch rush (equisetum hyemale) much used in scouring gun barrels.
gun-brush n. a cylindrical or conical brush for cleaning the bore of a gun.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > instrument for cleaning bore
moppet1512
scouring-stick1577
scourer1591
spongea1625
scouring-rod1697
sponge-staff1772
gun-brush1799
fire-swab1813
wiping-stick1817
wiper1826
washing-rod1850
sponge cloth1862
swab1863
wiping-rod1875
1799 Memoirs Med. Soc. Lond. V. 407 (heading) Case of a Gun Brush penetrating the Cranium.
1874 Kemmis Treat. Mil. Carriages 171 Gun brushes are used for cleaning the bores of M.L.R. guns, the heads are conical in form.
gun bus n. [bus n.1 1c] (see quot. 1925).
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > with specific armament
rocket plane1913
gun bus1919
1919 Blackburn & Newby All about Aircraft 63 The Vickers' ‘Gun Bus’..having a Gnome engine.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 112 Gun-bus, Air Force slang for a gun-carrying aeroplane. Specifically applied to the first Vickers' ‘pusher’ machine, the first aeroplane specially built to carry a machine-gun.
1970 R. Johnston Black Camels xii. 183 Out on the flanks, four of Kassim's gun buses were standing by.
gun-camera n. (see quot. 1948).
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > [noun] > scientific and technical
heliograph1848
revolver1876
spectrograph1884
photochronograph1891
photogrammeter1891
process camera1895
gun-camera1921
microcamera1928
phototimer1942
ballistic camera1945
monorail camera1958
1921 Flight 13 414/1 Dealing with the gun-camera, he said airmen were trained to aim and ‘fire’ with the gun, and the camera, which was attached, showed what part of their opponent they were actually on when they ‘fired’.
1948 A. L. M. Sowerby Dict. Photogr. (ed. 17) 356 Gun camera, a camera attached to a gun, usually in a fighter aeroplane, and operated when the trigger of the gun is pulled. These cameras were introduced during the war of 1914–18 for use in training fighter-pilots.
gun captain n. the captain of the crew of a ship's gun.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > seafaring warrior or naval man > leader or commander > officer with specific duty > [noun] > gunnery officers
gunner1495
quarter-gunner1617
gunner's mate1708
gunnery-lieutenant1867
gun captain1901
gunnery jack1904
gun1916
1901 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 8/1 The gun captain and layer.
gun-carriage n. (see carriage n. 4a).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun]
stock1496
carriage1562
sea-carriage1669
gun-carriage1769
devil carriage1794
devil-cart1797
sleigh1797
galloper carriage1802
garrison-carriage1872
galloping carriage1883
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Cheville œilettes d'affut, the eye-bolts of the gun-carriages.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) III. 309 Two gunners sit immediately behind the horses, on the front of the gun-carriage.
gun-case n. a case for holding a gun; also colloquial a name for a judge's tippet.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > gun-case or sling
bendroll1598
holster1663
sling1711
gun-casea1762
gun-sling1812
shoulder holster1895
saddle scabbard1897
scabbard1923
gun slip1977
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > cloak, mantle, or cape > types of > small or short > tippet
tippet1481
palatine1686
victorine1848
gun-case1895
a1762 S. Niles Indian Wars in Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1861) 4th Ser. V. 275 We took two guns,..gun-cases and four canoes.
1839 C. Sinclair Holiday House xv. 333 I observed a gun-case in the saloon.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton II. v. 70 Having abstracted the paper, and bullets, &c., she saw a woollen gun-case, made of that sort of striped horse-cloth you must have seen a thousand times appropriated to such a purpose.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 274 Polis picked up a gun-case of blue broadcloth.
1877 ‘Mrs. Forrester’ Mignon I. 22 The only indication that its owner is a votary of ‘le sport’, is the neat mahogany gun-case fastened to the wall.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 6 Aug. 3/1 The tippet or ‘gun-case’ of scarlet cloth from the right shoulder to the left side, held in by the sash or girdle.
gun-chamber n. (see quot. 1867).
ΚΠ
1485 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 38 Gonne chambres iiij ix.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-chambers. In early artillery a movable chamber with a handle like a paterero, used in loading at the breech. In more recent times the name has been used for the small portable mortars for firing salutes in the parks.
gun club n. the name of a fabric design, frequently used in tweeds, consisting of large checks superimposed over small ones.
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the world > matter > colour > variegation > chequered pattern > [noun] > other chequered patterns
gun club1939
puppy tooth1957
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > patterned > checked > pattern
plaid1845
plaiding1889
overcheck1895
shadow-check1908
Glenurquhart1923
dogtooth check1939
gun club1939
puppy tooth1957
dog-tooth1958
1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 25/1 Gun club check, check design used frequently in tweeds, consisting of large check over smaller one.
1967 Guardian 7 Sept. 4/3 Pattern and colour in trousers are ‘in’, Tattersalls, gunclubs, dice checks, overchecks and stripes to blend with jackets.
gun cruiser n. the same as cruiser n.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > cruiser
cruiser1679
North Sea groper1830
barbette-cruiser1884
gun cruiser1884
cruiser-battleship1909
battle-cruiser1911
1884 R. D. White in Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Nov. 5/1 Of gun cruisers we should have at least one for every station, and two or three in reserve.
gun-crutch n. (see quot.).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun carriage > [noun] > other parts of carriage
tail-pin1497
brack1622
head-plate1647
transom1688
prise-bolt1705
bracket1753
bracket-bolt1753
pintle1769
rider1779
trail-plate-eye1828
cleat1834
wheel-guard1860
spade1862
nave-hole1867
chassis1869
turntable1889
gun-crutch1898
trail-spade1904
1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 168 Gun-crutch, the spur in which the gun rests on the gunbeam.
gun-dog n. a dog trained to accompany the ‘guns’.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dogs used for specific purposes > [noun] > sporting or hunting dog
kennet?a1400
greffier1575
velter1598
lucern1607
huntera1616
ranger1616
gun-dog1746
sporter1825
hunting dog1833
1746 W. Ellis Agric. Improv'd I. May xxiv. 184 The Dog..which, you said, was a Gun-dog and Setter.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 5 Mar. 9/3 The most handsome of all English gundogs.
1959 Elizabethan July 12/2 The haute-école of gundog training demands an intricate relationship of understanding between man and dog.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > granular texture > [noun] > state of being powdery > dust > dust of other specific materials
bark-dustc1440
pin powder1502
pin-dust1552
brick dust1573
gun dust1703
flue-dust1857
wood powder1870
pouce1880
stone-dust1896
paper dust1906
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 135 Earthen-floors are commonly made..of Lime, and Brook-sand, and Gundust, or Anvil-dust from the Forge.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 207 A Gallon of Boreing (or Gun) Dust.
gun-fight n. U.S. colloquial a fight with revolvers, a shooting affray.
ΚΠ
1898 McClure's Mag. Feb. 380 You don't mean there is going to be a gun-fight?
1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights (U.K. ed.) ii. ii. 252 I'll go yore little old gunfight to a finish.
1961 K. Reisz Technique Film Editing (ed. 9) ii. 75 The gun-fight is simply presented in to-and-fro reaction shots.
gun-fighter n. one who frequently participates in gun-fights; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1894 Midwinter Appeal (San Francisco) 27 Jan. 2/3 The gun-fighters rushed up with cocked revolvers and ordered him to halt.
1910 J. Hart Vigilante Girl xxvii. 374 This man Hawke is a gun-fighter, and as cool and courageous as Tower can be.
1950 Manch. Guardian Weekly 17 Aug. 7/3 All ‘Westerns’ are..strict observers of a moral and social code—..But ‘The Gunfighter’ goes much farther in moral lecturing.
1964 D. F. Dowd in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 59 To become..an intellectual gunfighter.
gunfire n. (a) the firing of a gun or guns; Nautical and Military the time at which the morning or evening gun is fired; spec. rapid firing in which each gun acts independently and fires as rapidly as it can be loaded; also figurative; (b) Army slang an early morning cup of tea served out to troops before going on first parade.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun] > signal with gun > time of
gunfire1801
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun]
gunning1570
fire1590
firing1684
squibbing1697
gunfire1801
gunnery1816
pop-off1843
pluffing1852
machine-gun fire1882
gun-play1897
loosing off1906
the world > food and drink > drink > tea > [noun] > a cup of > in morning > given to troops
gunfire1919
1801 M. Nugent Jrnl. 30 Oct. (1839) I. ii. 83 Up at gun-fire.
1814 T. E. Hook Let. 24 Mar. in A. Mathews Mem. C. Mathews (1838) II. xii. 269 Always up by gun-fire, five o'clock.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. (at cited word) Gun-fire, the time at which the morning or evening gun is fired.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. xvi. 253 I will give you leave to go to-morrow morning and stay till gun-fire.
1870 Daily News 13 Oct. 5/5 This same shell disturbed a hare, which..scampered across the battlefield right in a line with the gun fire.
1898 P. H. Colomb in National Rev. Aug. 841 Quite possibly an English admiral would have risked the dangers of navigation rather than the dangers of gun-fire.
1912 S. E. Burrow Friend or Foe x. 125 In the prayer~room they gathered at noon day by day for their ‘Gun~fire’, and around the Word had the most helpful fellowship.
1916 ‘B. Cable’ Action Front 210 The gunners..will tell you how they stretched themselves to the call for ‘gun-fire’.
1919 War Slang in Athenæum 18 July 632/2 ‘Gun fire’ for early morning tea.
1926 Times 1 Jan. 13/3 After a sharp exchange of gunfire the massive tanks of the new property legislation have rolled over the last ditch.
1928 Daily Mail 31 July 13/1 A typical day in the life of a Territorial in camp..is as follows: 6 a.m. Réveillé. 6.30 ‘Gunfire’ (morning tea and biscuits), [etc.].
1940 ‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk ii. xvii. 201 ‘Dawn just breaking, sir,’ he affirmed, shoving into my hand a mug of hot ‘gunfire’.
1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 137/2 One has only to listen to the tense gunfire delivery of radio sports announcers to understand this.
gun flint n. (see flint n. 2b).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > lock > flint
firestoneeOE
stone1613
flint1660
gun flint1753
1753 J. Cooke in J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. liv. 367 The Tartars offered them two large loaves of bread, in exchange for a gun flint.
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. iii. 71 A gun-flint is convenient for scratching on the surface of glass.
gun-fodder n. = cannon fodder n. 1.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > [noun] > collectively > regarded as material
food for powder1598
cannon fodder1847
gun-fodder1900
1900 Westm. Gaz. 9 July 2/1 Exceedingly useful in the capacity of gun-fodder and stop-gap.
1925 P. Gibbs Unchanging Quest xxvii. 207 From historic houses..these boys of ours came as gun-fodder.
1941 A. Koestler Scum of Earth ix. 47 To fight against its enemies at home, instead of serving as gun-fodder for their purposes.
gun-harpoon n. a harpoon fired from a gun instead of being thrown by hand.
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society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > harpoon > types of
gun-harpoon1867
bomb-lance1883
rocket bomb1883
toggle-iron1884
toggle-harpoon1888
stabbing harpoon1895
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-harpoon.
gun hoop n. one of the coiled or forged steel envelopes shrunk on the central tube of a modern cannon.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > reinforcing
fortification1626
reinforce1757
jacket1854
re-enforce1861
gun hoop1891
1891 Daily News 26 May 2/6 The exhibit, which consists of a hollow forging (technically known as a gun hoop)..is 23 feet long, and weighs 34 tons.
gun-house n. (a) a house in which firearms are kept; (b) a shelter for the protection of a gun and the gunner in action.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > shelter or screen > [noun] > shield to protect gunners
blind1644
gun-house1736
blindage1812
blinding1829
mantlet1859
shield1898
1736 Boston Town Rec. 12 142 The Town would give direction for removing the said Bull-House, and..Joyn the same to the Gun-House in the Common.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 54 The large doors of a gun-house flew open, with a loud noise.
1893 E. W. Lloyd & A. G. Hadcock Artillery v. 109 The firer..looks along the sights above the roof of the shield or gun-house.
gun-how n. (see quot. 1942).
ΚΠ
1940 Illustr. London News 16 Mar. 345 (caption) Here we give some photographs of the new 25-pdr. ‘gun-how,’—the outstanding artillery novelty of the war.
1942 J. T. Gorman Mod. Weapons War iv. 80 Guns and howitzers, as separate weapons, have been largely superseded by a single, all-purposes ‘Gun-How’, combining the long range of guns with a howitzer's greater weight of fire.
gun-howitzer n. = gun-how n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > mountain-piece or howitzer
howitz1687
howitzer1695
amusette1757
mountain howitzer1812
mountain-gun1844
how1915
gun-howitzer1940
1940 Illustr. London News 20 Jan. 75/1 This drawing shows a gun-howitzer—a weapon unknown in the World War, but of increasing importance in recent years—in the development of which British artillerymen have played a leading part.
gun-iron n. (a) the iron used in the manufacture of guns; (b) a gun-harpoon ( Cent. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > manufacture of firearms and ammunition > materials
metal1591
skelp1811
stub-twist1843
coil1859
gun-iron1881
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 257 All the iron for gun-work..is of a superior quality to that to be generally obtained, and is known as gun-iron.
gun-lance n. see lance n.1 2.
gun-layer n. one who aims or lays a gun.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm > artilleryman > gun-layer
layer1896
gun-layer1901
gun-pointer1904
pointer1904
1901 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 8/1 Acting Bombardier Mullen, the gun captain and layer, had a truly marvellous escape.
1906 Daily Chron. 13 Aug. 5/7 While carrying out gunlayers' tests with the six-inch guns.
1938 C. Day Lewis Overtures to Death 47 Brisk at their intricate batteries the German gun-layers go About death's business.
gun-laying n.
ΚΠ
1909 Westm. Gaz. 26 July 7/2 (heading) Remarkable gun-laying tests.
gun-lever n. (see quot. 1918).
ΚΠ
1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Gun-levers, in ordnance, two steel arms on a disappearing carriage which support the gun at one end and the counterweights at the other end. The gun-levers are pivoted near their middle upon a gun-lever axle which rests in bronze bushed axle beds in the top carriage.
Categories »
gun-lift n. a hoisting arrangement for mounting and dismounting cannon (Wilhelm Mil. Dict. 1881).
gun microphone n. a moving-coil microphone having a number of parallel tubes of different length in front of the diaphragm to increase its directional property.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > sound magnification or reproduction > [noun] > microphone
carbon transmitter1878
microphone1878
carbon microphone1879
pantelephone1881
phonoscope1890
mike1911
condenser microphone1921
magnetophone1922
radio microphone1922
ionophone1924
crystal microphone1925
ribbon microphone1925
radio mike1926
laryngophone1927
velocity microphone1931
ribbon mike1933
pressure microphone1934
bug1936
eight ball1937
ribbon1937
throat microphone1937
throat mike1937
rifle microphone1938
parabolic microphone1939
lip microphone1941
intercept1942
spike mike1950
spy-mike1955
spy-microphone1960
mic1961
rifle mike1961
gun microphone1962
spike microphone1962
shotgun microphone1968
Lavallière1972
wire1973
sneaky1974
multi-mikes1990
1941 W. Abbot Handbk. Broadcasting (ed. 2) i. 8 Two interesting microphones are the machine-gun and the parabolic. The machine-gun accessory..consists of a series of tubes strapped together through which sound is conveyed to a dynamic microphone which fits into the end.]
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio i. 23 A ‘gun’ microphone..is sufficiently directional to pinpoint surfaces which cause echoes in concert halls.
1967 Punch 25 Jan. 132/2 The camera-team..trained their directional gun-microphones on guilty couples.
gun moll n. U.S. slang a female thief (cf. sense 12); an armed woman.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun]
thief688
bribera1387
stealer1508
taker?a1513
goodfellow1566
snatcher1575
lift1591
liftera1592
larcin1596
Tartar1602
lime-twig1606
outparter1607
Tartarian1608
flick1610
puggard1611
gilt1620
nim1630
highwayman1652
cloyer1659
out-trader1660
Robin Goodfellow1680
birdlime1705
gyp1728
filch1775
kiddy1780
snaveller1781
larcenist1803
pincher1814
geach1821
wharf-rat1823
toucher1837
larcener1839
snammer1839
drummer1856
gun1857
forker1867
gunsmith1869
nabber1880
thiever1899
tea-leaf1903
gun moll1908
nicker1909
knocker-off1926
possum1945
scuffler1961
rip-off1969
1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 2 A gun-moll, a woman thief.
1910 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 31 Dec. 3/1 When the professional woman thief, who is known to the denizens of the underworld as a gun moll is arrested and taken back to the office, she is searched thoroughly.
1928 M. C. Sharpe Chicago May 286 Gun Molls, women who steal from men in the street, or carry guns.
1949 A. Koestler Promise & Fulfilm. ii. v. 279 Fierce-looking Yemenite gun-molls, Sephardi beauties.
gun-money n. (a) = gunnage n.; (b) money coined (by James II in Ireland) from the metal of old guns (see quot. 1853).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > fee for services rendered > [noun] > payment for capture or return of person or property > for capturing ship
gunnage1703
gun-money1712
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > coin of gun metal
gun-money1853
1712 London Gaz. No. 5019/4 Rewards of Gun-money for the said Service.
1853 H. N. Humphreys Coin Collector's Man. II. 511 The base silver money struck..by James II., in 1689..principally from some brass cannon, from which they took the name of gun-money; but they were composed of a mixture of metals, in which silver formed a small proportion.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun and head money, given to the captors of an enemy's ship of war destroyed, or deserted, in fight. It was formerly assumed to be about £1000 per gun.
gun-paper n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1853 M. Faraday Lect. Non-metallic Elem. i. 110 Other forms of lignine or woody tissue may be made to assume the peculiar condition of gun-cotton by similar treatment. Thus we may have gun-sawdust, and what may be termed gun-paper.
gun-pendulum n. (a) ‘a device employed to determine the initial velocity of projectiles by means of the recoil of the gun’ (Hamersly Naval Encycl. 1881); (b) ‘a pendulous box with sand-bags to receive the impact of a ball fired from a gun or cannon, and used to determine the strength of powder’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > manufacture of firearms and ammunition > instruments
newel1611
spanner1639
height-board1672
height-rule1692
star gauge1784
spindle1842
gun-pendulum1867
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > [noun] > speed or direction as vector quality > device to measure or record velocity
ballistic pendulum1764
tachometer1810
velocimeter1842
velocity-measurer1850
gun-pendulum1867
the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun] > in the physical sciences > measurement of > instrument > for measuring velocity of projectiles
ballistic pendulum1764
gun-pendulum1867
registrar1872
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-pendulum. See Ballistic Pendulum.
1883 G. Mackinlay Text-bk. Gunnery 146 The gun-pendulum has lately been occasionally used in experiments to find the recoil of small arms.
gun-pit n. (a) Fortification an excavation made to receive guns for protection against the enemy's fire; (b) ‘a pit for receiving the mold used in casting a gun, or for receiving the tube or jacket in assembling a built-up gun’ ( Cent. Dict.); (c) in a fighting aeroplane, the compartment for a gun and gunner.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > shelter or screen > [noun] > pits
rifle pit1856
shelter-pit1870
gun-pit1877
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > fuselage > gun-turret or -pit
gun-pit1877
gun turret1916
dustbin1934
ball turret1942
1877 M. Prior in Daily News 1 Oct. We..saw the Russians building gun pits and shelter trenches for our next attack.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 8 Field artillery positions protected by breast~works and gun-pits.
1928 C. F. S. Gamble Story N. Sea Air Station xii The German officer..standing in the after gun-pit.
gun-plane n. a fighting aeroplane armed with a gun or guns.
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1915 Times 4 Oct. 8/4 Our gunplanes carried out during the night a bombardment of the German lines.
1915 W. E. Dommett Aeroplanes & Airships vi. 75 What has latterly been described as a battleplane or gunplane..does not yet exist in very great numbers.
gun-pointer n. = gun-layer n.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm > artilleryman > gun-layer
layer1896
gun-layer1901
gun-pointer1904
pointer1904
1904 Collier's 16 July 15 As the breech-blocks close with a snap the gun-pointer bends over his sights.
1918 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 839/1 This time the gun-pointer, having overcome his pardonable excitement, aimed true.
gun-port n. a port-hole for a gun.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval weapons and equipment > [noun] > ship's guns collectively > gun-port
embrasure1702
gun-port1769
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > other parts of body of vessel > [noun] > opening in side of vessel > for gun
porthole1569
embrasure1702
gun-port1769
port1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Head The gun-ports of the lower deck.
1894 Daily News 22 Aug. 5/6 An officer on board the steamer Islam..denies that the portholes were ever meant for gun-ports, being intended for the readier discharge of cargo into lighters.
gun-portion n. (see quot. 1876).
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > defensive walls > [noun] > battlements > part between embrasures
merlon1704
gun-portion1876
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Gun Portion, in fortification, is half the merlon on each side of the gun, that is to say, 9 feet on one side of the embrasure and 9 feet on the other.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 44 The gun-portion parties, consisting of as many parties as there are guns, are distributed on their tasks by their respective N.C.O.'s.
gun-power n. the number and strength of guns available in any given place or circumstances.
ΚΠ
1890 G. S. Clarke Fortification xiii. 176 The actual gun power of the broadside iron-clads.
1928 Daily Tel. 11 Sept. 12/4 A division today lacks the tank-power and the gun-power necessary for it to strike as a whole.
1940 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 244 None of the British ships..was..affected in gun-power or mobility.
gun-range n. (a) the range of a gun's fire; (b) a place where gun-firing is practised.
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the world > space > distance > [noun] > limit of distance or reach > to which a thing may be shot > specific
bowshotc1300
bow-draughtc1400
buck-shot1447
flight-shot1455
gun-shot1532
bird bolt shot1570
cannon shot?1571
pistol shot1608
bolt's-shoot1677
rifle shot1803
gun-reach1825
rifle range1830
gun-range1852
society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > weapon-training > firing practice > range
rocket range1814
firing range1833
practice range1840
range1840
gun-range1852
1852 tr. Görgei's My Life in Hung. I. 398 At the distance of three or four gun-ranges from the Monostor.
1852 tr. Görgei's My Life in Hung. II. xix. 182 They were..far out of gun-range of our trenches.
1856Gun-range [see gun-range n. at Compounds 1a]. 1904 Daily Chron. 21 Nov. 5/2 The gun-range at Brassact, near Antwerp.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable (1955) 283 As soon as they can get us up in gun~range again.
gun-reach n. = gun-range n. (a).
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the world > space > distance > [noun] > limit of distance or reach > to which a thing may be shot > specific
bowshotc1300
bow-draughtc1400
buck-shot1447
flight-shot1455
gun-shot1532
bird bolt shot1570
cannon shot?1571
pistol shot1608
bolt's-shoot1677
rifle shot1803
gun-reach1825
rifle range1830
gun-range1852
1825 C. Waterton Wanderings in S. Amer. 118 Almost out of gun reach.
1918 C. W. Beebe Jungle Peace xi Within gun-reach in front of me.
gun-rest n. (see quot. 1898); also, a wall-fixture for portable firearms, a gun-rack.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > store of weapons or equipment > [noun] > place for storing weapons > gun-rack
gun-rest1898
1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 168 Gun-rest, a flat wooden support for the barrel of the gun. It has a long handle, enabling the fowler to regulate the elevation of the gun.
1925 A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose iii. xv Pike-rests... Not gun-rests; they are too far apart for that.
gun-runner n. colloquial one engaged in gun running.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > arming or equipping with weapons > [noun] > arms dealer
powderman1511
gun-runner1899
merchant of death1934
1899 Athenæum 21 Oct. 551/1 Isaacs, the gun-runner, has good points as a man.
gun-running n. the practice of illegally conveying firearms and ammunition into a country.
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society > trade and finance > illegal or immoral trading > [noun] > smuggling > of certain goods or provisions
owling1698
woollinga1722
gun-running1883
drug trafficking1912
rum-running1916
1883 Standard 21 Mar. 3/2 Two Europeans..were arrested in the act of gun-running on the Pondoland frontier.
gun-sawdust n. an explosive made, in a similar way to guncotton, by steeping sawdust in nitric and sulphuric acids.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > explosive material > [noun] > other specific explosives
powdera1393
gunpowder1411
saltpetre1501
petre1586
halinitre1608
sal-prunella1664
petre-salt1708
xyloidin1838
gun-cotton1846
pyroxyle1847
pyroxylin1847
pyroglycerin1850
xylidine1850
nitroglycerine1852
gun-sawdust1853
picrate1854
trinitroglycerin1864
nitroleum1866
trinitrin1866
dynamite1867
giant-powder1872
dualin1874
fulgurite1874
rendrock1874
glyoxilin1875
lithofracteur1875
trinitro-cellulose1875
white gunpowder1875
gelatin1878
cotton-powder1879
vigorite1879
blasting gelatine1881
Hercules powder1881
saxifragine1881
tonite1881
dynamogen1882
forcite1883
haloxylin1883
jelly powdera1884
nitro-gelatinea1884
panclastite1883
potentite1883
sebastinea1884
kolloxylin1884
hellhoffite1885
rackarock1885
securite1886
kinetite1887
roburite1887
carbo-dynamite1888
fortis1889
gelatine dynamite1889
gelignite1889
seranine1889
straw-dynamite1889
carbonite1890
amberite1891
nitro powder1892
Schnebelite1893
westfalite1894
thorite1899
soup1902
ammonal1903
cheddite1908
trinitrotoluene1908
Samsonite1909
tolite1909
trinitrotoluol1910
trotyl1910
glyceryl trinitrate1912
T.N.T.1915
nitro1916
amatol1918
cyclonite1923
hexogen1923
lox1923
pentaerythritol tetranitrate1923
hexite1931
aurantia1940
jelly1941
RDX1941
1853Gun-sawdust [see gun-paper n.].
gun-searcher n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-searcher, an iron instrument with several sharp-pointed prongs and a wooden handle: it is used to find whether the bore is honey-combed.
gunship n. (also helicopter gunship) a heavily armed helicopter.
ΚΠ
1968 Times 3 Feb. 8/3 Helicopter ‘gunships’ armed with machine-guns accounted for most of the toll.
1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 63 I saw two Huey gun-ships—assault helicopters—swooping down towards us... I listened gratefully to the whoosh of its [sc. the leading gun-ship's] 2.75 inch rockets and the stutter of its M60 machine guns.
1969 Australian 7 June 2/7 Other RAAF gunships remained overhead until the crew were lifted out.
gun-sight n. (see sight n.1 14b).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > sight
sight1588
level1611
vizy1828
gun-sight1867
1867Gun-sight [see gun-sight n. at Compounds 1a].
1908 Westm. Gaz. 17 Sept. 5/1 It was discovered that all the gunsights in the ship had been removed.
1941 C. Morgan Empty Room i. 10 ‘Bomb-sights and the Paramounts.’ ‘The what?’ ‘That's what I call the fighter gunsights.’
gun-site n. an emplacement, usually fortified, for guns.
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society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > military position > [noun] > gun-site
cannonery1598
emplacement1811
firing-place1879
fire position1889
machine-gun post1915
gun-site1943
1943 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 17 Feb.–11 May 43 (caption) A Bofors anti-aircraft gun manned by men of the U.S. Army at a gun-site situated on the coast of Algeria.
1944 Times 3 Feb. 6/1 At the beginning of this year the American gunners took over a gunsite on London's outskirts.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > having specific parts > sleeves > types of
long sleeve1538
long-sleeved1578
maunched1688
pudding-sleeve1704
gun-sleeved1782
short-sleeved1839
short sleeve1931
1782 Young Coalman's Courtship to Creelwife's Daughter (ed. 10) in D. Graham Coll. Writings (1883) II. 53 No less than a gun sleev'd linen sark on him.
Categories »
gun-slide n. in naval guns, ‘the chassis on which the top-carriage carrying the gun slides in recoiling’ ( Cent. Dict.).
gun-sling n. (see quot.); also, a sling for carrying a portable firearm.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > gun-case or sling
bendroll1598
holster1663
sling1711
gun-casea1762
gun-sling1812
shoulder holster1895
saddle scabbard1897
scabbard1923
gun slip1977
1812 Niles' Reg. 2 131/1 The purveyor of public supplies advertises for..25000 gun slings.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Gun-slings, long rope grommets used for hoisting in and mounting them.
1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 653/2 Gun and Rifle Slings. Webbing—3/9.
gun-slinger n. = gunman n. 1.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm
shot1598
gun-man1624
popper1733
gunsman1766
firer1807
pluffer1828
gun1931
gunsel1942
gun-slinger1953
1953 in H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 236/1 The gun-slinger will spend..his life behind bars.
1960 Spectator 4 Mar. 321 Yet another brutalised gun-slinger.
1967 Boston Sunday Herald 7 May (Show Guide Suppl.) 2/4 (caption) The gunslinger..comes to town, cigar between teeth, his prowess with a gun for sale.
gun-slinging n.
ΚΠ
1944 R. F. Adams Western Words (1945) 70/1 Gun slinging, slang for the act of shooting.
1958 Church Times 12 Sept. 3/1 The EOKA boycott is resented even more than the EOKA gun-slinging, for it affects every single citizen.
gun-spaniel n. a spaniel that has been trained to accompany gunners.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > other types of dog > [noun] > spaniel > land or water > other kinds of
gun-spaniel1754
1754 Ess. Manning Fleet 39 Every Greyhound, Pointer, Setter, and Gun-Spaniel.
gun-stick n. a ramrod, rammer.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > ramrod
rammer1497
gun-stick1589
ramrod1693
rammer rod1773
1589 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 227 For iiij gunstickes and twoe drumme stickes xvjd.
1746 H. Miles in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 44 32 The Sulphur, tho' of a great Thickness round the said Gun-stick, could by no means be excited to any tolerable Degree.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Gun stick, a ramrod. Western.
gun-tackle n. (a) Nautical in full, gun-tackle-purchase, ‘a tackle composed of a rope rove through two single blocks’ (Smyth); also attributive gun-tackle block; (b) an arrangement of blocks and ropes for moving guns.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > tackle or purchase > [noun] > consisting of two single blocks
gun-tackle1795
1795 R. Dodd Rep. Hartlepool 16 Merely knowing the management of a gun-tackle.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Gun-tackle, the blocks and pulleys of a gun-carriage affixed to the side of a ship, by which it is run in and out of the port-hole.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 108 ‘A gun tackle’ increases the effect of the power threefold.
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 55 Gun tackle purchase. Two double blocks, each fitted with a hook.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xiv. 217 The decks were washed down..and a gun-tackle purchase rigged, before the boat arrived.
1898 P. H. Colomb Mem. Sir A. C. Key 350 That the strops of the gun-tackle blocks should henceforth be of wire instead of hemp.
gun-tow n. = gun-cotton n.
ΚΠ
1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Arts & Manuf. 506 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 1) VI Gun-tow or cotton..seems more promising than gunpowder.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun]
grinc825
trapa1000
snarea1100
swikea1100
granea1250
springec1275
gina1300
gnarea1325
stringc1325
trebuchet1362
latch?a1366
leashc1374
snarlc1380
foot gina1382
foot-grina1382
traina1393
sinewa1400
snatcha1400
foot trapa1425
haucepyc1425
slingc1425
engine1481
swar1488
frame1509
brakea1529
fang1535
fall trap1570
spring1578
box-trapa1589
spring trapa1589
sprint1599
noosec1600
springle1602
springe1607
toil1607
plage1608
deadfall1631
puppy snatch1650
snickle1681
steel trap1735
figure (of) four1743
gun-trap1749
stamp1788
stell1801
springer1813
sprent1822
livetrap1823
snaphance1831
catch pole1838
twitch-up1841
basket-trap1866
pole trap1879
steel fall1895
tread-trap1952
conibear trap1957
conibear1958
1749 Acct. Voy. for Discov. North-west Passage II. 3 These Gun Traps are usually set under some Bank Side, or in a Hollow Way.
gun turret n. (see quot. 1959).
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society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > aircraft weapons or equipment > [noun] > gun-turret
gun turret1916
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > gun turret > [noun] > on vehicle or aircraft
turret1914
gun turret1916
tank turret1918
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > [noun] > fuselage > gun-turret or -pit
gun-pit1877
gun turret1916
dustbin1934
ball turret1942
1916 Flying (Aero Club of America) Jan. 820/1 The Sturtevant Battleplane is a biplane of tractor type built with remarkable simplicity and..attention to efficiency. There are many novel features, including the steel construction, the placing of gun turrets on either side of the central body.
1919 A. Klemin Text-bk. Aeronaut. Engin. 175 Pilot forward machine gun firing through propeller. Passenger in rear with circular gun-turret.
1935 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 39 988 In the case of rotatable gun turrets for aircraft, it is proposed to provide a removable top so as to allow the gunner to escape in case of emergency.
1959 J. L. Nayler Dict. Aeronaut. Engin. 125 Gun turret, a gun position in an aircraft under the control of an air-gunner... Modern gun turrets are power-operated, equipped with gyro gun-sights and often radar ranged and fired automatically.
gun-vessel n. ? a small ship of war.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > gunboat
artillery boat1759
gun-boat1793
gun-vessel1800
gun-brig1801
schooner-gun-vessel1806
gunship1841
turret-ship1862
turret-vessel1862
pelter1890
1800 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 3 238 A sailor belonging to a gun-vessel.
1835 Westm. Rev. 23 Advt. to No. xlv. 8 A free government is like a gun-vessel, with its gun amidships.
gun washings n. the water in which a gun has been washed.
ΚΠ
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. vii. 134 The skin [in Yellow Fever] is said to emit a peculiar odour like gun washings.
gun-well n. in a submarine, the sunk compartment for a gun.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > other specific rooms on naval vessel > in submarine
gun-well1915
fore-ends1940
1915 Illustr. London News CXLVI. 234/1 The deck of a German submarine with the hatch of the gun-well open.
gun-work n. (a) any labour performed in connection with ordnance, its production, inspection, or the like; (b) shooting with a gun or rifle.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > manufacture of firearms and ammunition > production and development of guns
gunnery1614
gun-work1858
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 183 This iron is sold to the gun-work forgers.
1889 Cent. Dict. (at cited word) An officer detailed upon gun-work exclusively.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 15 Sept. 2/1 M. Foà's record of his gun-work amongst the big game of Central Africa.
gun-worker n. one who works in a gun-foundry.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > armourer > [noun] > one who makes artillery or firearms
gunmaker1385
artillerc1453
gunner1463
gunsmith1588
pyrobolist1696
gun-worker1905
1905 Spectator 4 Mar. 311/2 A meeting of gun-workers..held at Birmingham on Monday.
Draft additions 1993
gun slip n. (see slip n.3 Additions).
Draft additions September 2008
U.S. slang.
a. Baseball. A player's throwing arm, esp. a strong throwing arm.
ΚΠ
1929 N.Y. Times 2 June xx. 2/7 A player's arm is his ‘gun’ or his ‘wing’. ‘A good gun’ means that the possessor has a strong arm.
1984 N.Y. Post 3 Aug. 66/3 Did you see the right-fielder throw? His gun reminds me of Skoonj [i.e. Carl Furillo].
1991 Baseball Rookies 1 i. 13/2 He has that type of arm where he lets go of the ball and you expect it to bounce five or six times before it gets to second. But it never does. He has a gun.
b. In plural. The arms, esp. muscular arms; the biceps.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > arm > [noun]
armeOE
brawna1382
hand?a1425
branch1594
bridle arm1622
shield-arm1640
smiter1673
sword-arm1687
fin1785
pistol arm1800
spade-arm1804
pinion1848
liver wing1855
bow-arm1860
meathook1919
gun1973
the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > muscles of arm
pronator1615
supinator1615
wrist-bender1634
bicepsa1641
teretipronator1657
pronator teres1713
teres major1713
teres minor1713
subanconeus1845
gun1973
1973 M. Andrews & P. T. Owens Black Lang. iii. 79 Guns, the biceps and triceps part of the arm. (Where potential firepower lies.)
1990 J. Fritscher Some Dance to Remember 43 Bringing his Big Guns to full flex.
1997 P. Munro U.C.L.A. Slang 3 74 Nice guns!
2008 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 4 May p3 I gotta get rid of this gut, and I want big guns and big pecs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
gunv.
/ɡʌn/, U.S. /ɡən/ 1. transitive.† a. To provide with guns. (See also gunned adj.) Obsolete. † b. To assail or fight with guns. Obsolete.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > assail with gunfire
guna1679
crack1835
to shoot up1890
to light up1967
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 177 (note) To fight against all the Navies, and Gunn'd Armadoes in the world.]
a1679 Earl of Orrery Guzman (1693) iii I cannot chuse but laugh to think how I shall gun the Oviedo's and Pirracco's.
1698 J. Vanbrugh 2nd Pt. Æsop i They gilded her, and painted her, and rigg'd and gunn'd her, and so sent her a privateering.
c. Stock Market. (See quot. 1870.)
ΚΠ
1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 136 Gunning a stock, is to use every art to produce a ‘break’, when it is known that a certain house is heavily supplied, and would be unable to resist an attack.
d. To shoot (a person). Also with up. U.S. colloquial.
ΚΠ
1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 83 I'll gun you if you do that again.
1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap i. 35 Wilfred went pasty, indeed, thinking his host was going to gun him.
1923 L. J. Vance Baroque xxvii. 178 If you don't want to have your Fiancy gunned up without notice by some wild-eyed wop.
1934 R. Chandler in Black Mask Oct. 36/1 Canales had no motive to gun Lou, unless it got back the money.
e. Forestry. (See quot. 1957.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [verb (transitive)] > direct fall of tree
gun1905
samson1905
1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (Bull. U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau Forestry, No. 61) 39 Gun, to aim a tree in felling it. In the case of very large, brittle trees, such as redwood, a sighting device (gunning stick) is used.
1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. II (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 88 Gun, in felling, to select the direction in which a tree should fall.
2. intransitive. To shoot with a gun; hence, to make war. to gun for: to shoot for, to go in search of with a gun; also, to go after or in search of; to seek to attack, harm, or destroy (someone); to go gunning, in which the participial form represents historically a-gunning (see gunning n. and -ing suffix2). Chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shoot [verb (intransitive)]
shoota1300
to go gunning1622
to shoot over1868
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > discharge firearms [verb (intransitive)]
to let fly1611
gun1622
fire1635
pop1650
pluff1826
squib1831
crack1835
poop1915
loose1928
to turn on (or give) the heat1928
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shoot game [verb (transitive)]
shootc893
to gun for1888
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > follow [verb (transitive)] > pursue > with hostility or violence
seekc825
to seek afterc1175
chasec1330
huntc1385
persecute1477
to gun for1893
bloodhound1935
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea x. 19 Which is a bad custome received and vsed of many ignorant persons, presently to gun at all whatsoever they discover, before they speake with them.
1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxiii. 73 Forc'd by some yelping Cute to giue the Greyhounds view, Which are at length let slip, when gunning out they goe.
1767 in New-Eng. Historical & Geneal. Reg. (1860) XIV. 47 All Persons coming to gun on said Island after Game.
1779 D. Gookin in New-Eng. Historical & Geneal. Reg. (1862) XVI. 29 Our men went out this day gunning, saw deer and wild Turkey, killed none.
1839 F. Marryat Diary in Amer. II. 102 I was hardly twelve years old, and had never been allowed to go out gunning.
1865 U. S. Grant in Cent. Mag. (1889) Nov. 146/2 The whole captures since the army started out gunning, will amount to not less than twelve thousand men and probably fifty pieces of artillery.
1888 Cent. Mag. Mar. 780/1 The guards..used..to gun for prisoners' heads..after the fashion of boys after squirrels.
1893 W. K. Post Harvard Stories 188 That bull Mick Shreedy is gunning for me just at present.
1903 N.Y. Times 29 Sept. 1 Others talked of mysterious influences that had been ‘gunning’ for financiers of prominence.
1922 Daily Mail 5 Dec. 9 Observing that the Company's statement is not a denial of the assertion that it is ‘gunning’ for the Mesopotamian oilfields claimed by the heirs of Abdul Hamid.
1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xix. 171 Mr. Trask has been gunning for Bernice [with a view to marriage] for over a year.
1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xviii. 198 Nice little bit of luck, finding her like that... Matter of fact, I wasn't gunning for her at all, really. I came to get that notebook.
1950 G. Greene Third Man iii. 31 I'm gunning..for Colonel Callaghan.
1955 Times 16 June 12/2 You found when you came back from Oslo that for other reasons the Communist Party was ‘gunning’ for Mr. Frankel?
1958 Observer 10 Aug. 3/2 Last week American commentators were gunning for Mr. Dulles (‘too busy, too tired, too discouraged, too stale,’ said Walter Lippmann..).
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ix. 204 I felt that ‘They’ were gunning for me again.
3. transitive. To look at closely, to examine.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > scrutinize [verb (transitive)]
through-seekOE
gropea1250
to search outa1382
ensearch1382
boltc1386
examinea1387
ransackc1390
ripea1400
search1409
overreach?a1425
considerc1425
perquirec1460
examec1480
peruse?1520
grounda1529
study1528
oversearch1532
perscrute1536
scrute1536
to go over ——1537
scan1548
examinate1560
rifle1566
to consider of1569
excuss1570
ripe1573
sift1573
sift1577
to pry into ——1581
dive1582
rub1591
explore1596
pervestigate1610
dissecta1631
profound1643
circumspect1667
scrutinize1671
perscrutatea1679
introspect1683
rummage1690
reconnoitre1740
scrutinate1742
to look through1744
scrutiny1755
parse1788
gun1819
cat-haul1840
vivisect1876
scour1882
microscope1888
tooth-comb1893
X-ray1896
comb1904
fine-tooth comb1949
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 179 To gun anything is to look at or examine it.
1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 39/2 The copper gunned me as if he was fly to my mug.
1946 M. Mezzrow & B. Wolfe Really Blues xii. 223 They wanted to be..alert and keen-sighted.., gunning everything.
4. = give v..
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > drive a motor vehicle > accelerate
to open out1906
gun1930
floorboard1942
to open up1970
1930 Amer. Speech 5 290 Gun the motor, accelerate the motor [of an aircraft].
1941 N. Alley I Witness 308 We gunned into an easy takeoff.
1943 R. Chandler Lady in Lake (1944) xxxiv. 180 Degarno let the clutch in and gunned the motor and hit forty in the first block and a half.
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xiii. 224 Dad's favourite manoeuvre..was to..gun the bike roaring down the front path.
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xv. 274 A car door crashing shut and a terrific gunning of the motor.
1968 P. Durst Badge of Infamy xvi. 171 He gunned the Volkswagen and fell in behind.
Derivatives
gunned adj.
ΚΠ
1967 ‘J. Cross’ To Hell for Half-a-crown i. 13 The car went by, with the heavy roar of the gunned motor.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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