(of a shotgun or other repeating firearm) operated by a slide-action mechanism feeding ammunition from a magazine under the barrel into the breech
2.
spraying or dispensing liquid by means of a pump rather than using a propellant
pump-action in American English
(ˈpʌmpˌækʃən)
adjective
(of a shotgun or rifle)
having an action that extracts the empty case, loads, and cocks the piece by means of a hand-operated lever that slides backward and forward; slide-action
Word origin
[1910–15, Amer.]This word is first recorded in the period 1910–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: flashback, homeroom, isotope, spotlight, zing
Examples of 'pump-action' in a sentence
pump-action
It soaks in beautifully, has a handy pump-action dispenser and smells like a dream.
The Sun (2013)
A squeezy tube or pump-action would be preferable to avoid wasting the liquid when it pours out at speed.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I think the first step is not with the pump-action hand sanitisers, but in our heads.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
An ordinary bar is low on packaging but a pump-action bottle leaves no mess on the back of the sink.