pump-actionadj.n.
/ˈpʌmpˌakʃn/, U.S. /ˈpəmpˌækʃ(ə)n/ A. adj.
1. Originally U.S. Designating a type of repeating firearm (now esp. a shotgun) in which a new round is brought from the magazine into the breech by a slide action in line with the barrel. Cf. earlier pump gun n. at pump v. Compounds 2.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [adjective] > types of rifle
bayoneted1856
six-shooting1858
take-down1893
Lee-Metford1897
Krag–Jørgensen1899
pump-action1908
slide action1911
1908 Coshocton (Ohio) Daily Age 17 Aug. 5/3 (advt.) Special price on Guns for the hunting season. Come in and examine the Remington..Hammerless and Pump Action Gun.
1912 Collier's 28 Sept. 30/1 (advt.) The Marlin Pump Action repeating rifle.
1945 Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald 20 Nov. 1/4 Hoyt began to unload his shotgun, a pump action weapon which..contained three ball shells.
1973 Times 1 Aug. 4/6 The Government decided..not to make self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns prohibited weapons in its forthcoming Bill.
2003 N. Rush Mortals xxxiv. 576 A young man, a boy, really, was pointing a pump-action shotgun at him.
2. Designating any device or container equipped with a pump for dispensing spray or liquid through a nozzle, now esp. an unpressurized dispenser worked by finger action rather than by internal pressure (as in an aerosol).
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1925 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 19 Dec. 8/2 (advt.) Sterling Silver Scent Sprays. Pump action cut glass bottles.
1976 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 2 Jan. 7/1 (advt.) 8 oz. non-aerosol [hair] spray in pump action bottle.
1989 Green Mag. Dec. 79 (caption) The Body Shop has long been a green favourite, with..a preference for pump-action sprays and roll-on applicators.
1999 D. Mitchell Ghostwritten 69 Katy always bought those pump-action containers of liquid soap,..which was all well and good until she discovered what fun it was to hammer the pump up and down.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 May i. 12/3 Mr. Chen, his big pump-action can and wand of the type usually used to spray pesticide hanging from his shoulder, leaned in the taxi and gave it a blast.
B. n.
1. A mechanism which delivers a pumping action; the action delivered by such a mechanism.
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1915 Youth's Compan. 11 Feb. 76/2 Her teeth split the pump action and closed on the magazine tube.
1921 Marion (Ohio) Daily Star 10 Sept. 8/2 I notice that the No. 12 valve lifter also acts as a pressure pump, the pump action being due to a steel ball.
1936 Sci. Monthly Feb. 182/1 The inhalation-exhalation pump-action of sea cucumbers is..nearly as regular and rhythmic as that of man.
1960 Times 6 Feb. 9/5 The pump action is easy, and gives a continuous spray with very little effort.
2005 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 4 Apr. 4 He has reinvented the bicycle pump... The 38-year-old came up with..a pull-cord system rather than the pump action that is normally used.
2. Originally U.S. A pump-action firearm. Cf. earlier pump gun n. at pump v. Compounds 2.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > other small arms
long gun1530
currier1558
crabut1626
long arm1675
bullet-guna1701
hand cannon1752
wall-gun1812
walking-stick gun1823
shoulder gun1824
safety gun1825
gas gun1856
self-cocker1857
bolt action1871
snap action gun1875
saddle gun1886
multibarrel1899
dane gun1900
clip-loader1901
pump-action1923
sleeve gun1944
laser gun1961
phaser1966
magnum1970
1916 N.Y. Times 25 May 12/8 One manufacturer of high-power rifles has adopted this action..because he is convinced of its superiority over the lever or pump action.]
1923 Agitator (Wellsboro, Pa.) 15 Aug. 2/5 (advt.) Get your dealer to show you the new Remington... This is a hammerless, solid-breech pump action too.
1958 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 3 Jan. 16/4 As far as rifles are concerned there's a wide choice of .22's... You can buy autoloaders,..lever-actions, bolt-actions, pump actions, [etc.].
1977 Field 13 Jan. 44/1 (advt.) A large selection of new and second-hand English weapons... Foreign side by sides, automatics, pump actions and single barrel guns.
1997 Total Film Sept. 112/5 The plan had been to fake gun damage to a windscreen with a catapult and a ball-bearing, but the scrapyard owner popped up and said he'd do it with his pump-action.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1908