air gun
noun
1
: a gun from which a projectile is propelled by compressed air
2
: any of various hand tools that work by compressed air
especially : airbrush
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The gun was determined to be a soft air gun that the woman was returning to Amazon. 
cleveland, 5 July 2022 The police department said residents have been shot by splat guns, a toy air gun that shoots a gel projectile. Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 9 May 2022 Attorney Rowland Edwards said Amato admitted to bringing a soft-air gun into the store and a store employee identified Amato as the person who brandished a gun in the store. Jennifer Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 26 Feb. 2022 For roughly twenty-four hours after hearing the ship and the air gun, Nemo did not vocalize or, perhaps critically, hunt or eat. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 In 2017, with funding from various government agencies, including Greenland’s Mineral Resources Authority, Heide-Jørgensen hired a research vessel to blast a small air gun to assess the narwhals’ response. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 The air gun, detonating generally once every eighty seconds, could be heard by the whales as far away as twenty kilometers or more in some instances, and the sound could bend around islands. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 The change to a center-lock wheel met the most pushback from teams, but it was required because of the destruction the 10,000-rpm air gun would cause each time is was slammed against the aluminum wheel. David Beard, Car and Driver, 5 May 2021 He was located and admitted to shooting at targets in his front yard with an air gun. cleveland, 19 Mar. 2021 See More
cleveland, 5 July 2022 The police department said residents have been shot by splat guns, a toy air gun that shoots a gel projectile. Timothy Fanning, San Antonio Express-News, 9 May 2022 Attorney Rowland Edwards said Amato admitted to bringing a soft-air gun into the store and a store employee identified Amato as the person who brandished a gun in the store. Jennifer Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 26 Feb. 2022 For roughly twenty-four hours after hearing the ship and the air gun, Nemo did not vocalize or, perhaps critically, hunt or eat. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 In 2017, with funding from various government agencies, including Greenland’s Mineral Resources Authority, Heide-Jørgensen hired a research vessel to blast a small air gun to assess the narwhals’ response. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 The air gun, detonating generally once every eighty seconds, could be heard by the whales as far away as twenty kilometers or more in some instances, and the sound could bend around islands. Marguerite Holloway, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2021 The change to a center-lock wheel met the most pushback from teams, but it was required because of the destruction the 10,000-rpm air gun would cause each time is was slammed against the aluminum wheel. David Beard, Car and Driver, 5 May 2021 He was located and admitted to shooting at targets in his front yard with an air gun. cleveland, 19 Mar. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
circa 1753, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Medical Definition
air gun
noun
: jet injector
The UN [United Nations] would like air guns, delivering vaccine doses without using needles. Laurie Garrett, Newsday
Laurie Garrett, Newsday