Carronades

1 definition found

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]