Gun

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gin \Gin\ (g[i^]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Gan} (g[a^]n), {Gon}
     (g[o^]n), or {Gun} (g[u^]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Ginning}.] [OE.
     ginnen, AS. ginnan (in comp.), prob. orig., to open, cut
     open, cf. OHG. inginnan to begin, open, cut open, and prob.
     akin to AS. g[imac]nan to yawn, and E. yawn. [root]31. See
     {Yawn}, v. i., and cf. {Begin}.]


     To begin; -- often followed by an infinitive without to; as,
     gan tell. See {Gan}. [Obs. or Archaic] "He gan to pray."
     --Chaucer.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gun \Gun\ (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin;
     cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon)
     fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E.
     mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.]
     1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance;
        any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles,
        consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which
        the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such
        as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by
        various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and
        fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are
        called {small arms}. Larger guns are called {cannon},
        {ordnance}, {fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc.
        See these terms in the Vocabulary.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              As swift as a pellet out of a gunne
              When fire is in the powder runne.     --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The word gun was in use in England for an engine to
              cast a thing from a man long before there was any
              gunpowder found out.                  --Selden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
        cannon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or
           manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore},
           {breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or
           {built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field},
           {mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named
        after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.
  
     {Big gun} or {Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence
        (Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big
        guns to tackle the problem.
  
     {Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.
  
     {Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or
        moved.
  
     {Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of
        explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping
        cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are
        formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the
        results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It
        burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly
        and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity.
        Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are
        insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the
        highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and
        cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and
        somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded
        with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for
        making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun
        cotton is frequenty but improperly called
        {nitrocellulose}. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester
        of nitric acid.
  
     {Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.
  
     {Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun
        is fired.
  
     {Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of
        copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is
        also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.
  
     {Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a
        cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.
  
     {Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the
        side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from
        the gun port.
  
     {Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two
        single blocks and a fall. --Totten.
  
     {Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named
        after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.
  
     {Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns,
        mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a
        reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the
        gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier
        models, such as the {Gatling gun}, the cartridges were
        loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern
        versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by
        levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the
        bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel.
        Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such
        weapons, with accurate aim. The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner
        gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and {Nordenfelt gun}, named for
        their inventors, and the French {mitrailleuse}, are
        machine guns.
  
     {To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n.,
        3.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

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

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

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

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  gun vt. [ITS, now rare: from the `:GUN' command] To forcibly terminate
     a program or job (computer, not career). "Some idiot left a background
     process running soaking up half the cycles, so I gunned it." Usage: now
     rare. Compare {can}, {blammo}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  gun
       
           ({ITS}, from the ":GUN" command) To forcibly
          terminate a program or job (computer, not career).  "Some
          idiot left a background process running soaking up half the
          cycles, so I gunned it."
       
          Compare {can}.
       
          (1995-02-27)