Gun definition |Dictionary.com

Synonyms of Gun

accelerate, arquebus, blunderbuss, breech-loader, cannon, derringer, equalizer, firearm, flintlock, flobert, forty-five, gatling gun

Gun

15 dictionary results for: Gun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

gun1

[guhn] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, gunned, gun·ning.

–noun

1.	a weapon consisting of a metal tube, with mechanical attachments, from which projectiles are shot by the force of an explosive; a piece of ordnance.

2.	any portable firearm, as a rifle, shotgun, or revolver.

3.	a long-barreled cannon having a relatively flat trajectory.

4.	any device for shooting something under pressure: a paint gun; a staple gun.

5.	Slang. a person whose profession is killing; professional killer: a gangland gun.

6.	British. a member of a shooting party.

7.	electron gun.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to shoot with a gun (often fol. by down): The guards gunned down the fleeing convict.

9.	to cause (an engine, vehicle, aircraft, etc.) to increase in speed very quickly by increasing the supply of fuel.

–verb (used without object)

10.	to hunt with a gun.

11.	to shoot with a gun.

—Verb phrase

12.

gun for,

a.	to seek with intent to harm or kill.

b.	to seek; try earnestly to obtain: He is gunning for a raise.

—Idioms

13.	give the gun, Slang. to put into motion or speed up: We gave the motor the gun and drove off.

14.

jump the gun, Slang.

a.	to begin a race before the starting signal.

b.	to begin prematurely; act too hastily.

15.	spike someone's guns, to frustrate or prevent someone from accomplishing a plan: Our competitors planned a surprise reduction in their rates, but we discovered it and were able to spike their guns.

16.	stick to one's guns, to maintain one's position in the face of opposition; stand firm: They stuck to their guns and refused to submit. Also, stand by one's guns.

17.	under the gun, under pressure, as to meet a deadline or solve a problem: We're all under the gun with these new sales quotas.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME gunne, gonne, appar. short for AL Gunilda, gonnyld, name for engine of war; cf. ON Gunna, short for Gunnhildr woman's name

]

—Related forms

gunless, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

gun2

[guhn] Pronunciation Key

–verb

pp. of gin³.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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gun.

gunnery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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gin3

[gin] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used without object), verb (used with object), gan, gun, gin·ning. Archaic.

to begin.

[Origin: 1150–1200; ME ginnen, OE ginnan, aph. var. of onginnan, beginnen to begin

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

gun (gŭn) Pronunciation Key
n.

A weapon consisting of a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high velocity into a relatively flat trajectory.
A cannon with a long barrel and a relatively low angle of fire.
A portable firearm, such as a rifle or revolver.
A device resembling a firearm or cannon, as in its ability to project something, such as grease, under pressure or at great speed.
A discharge of a firearm or cannon as a signal or salute.
One, such as a hunter, who carries or uses a gun.
1. A person skilled in the use of a gun.
2. A professional killer: a hired gun.
The throttle of an engine, as of an automobile.

v. gunned, gun·ning, guns

v. tr.

To shoot (a person): a bank robber who was gunned down by the police.
To open the throttle of (an engine) so as to accelerate: gunned the engine and sped off.
Maine To hunt (game).

v. intr.
To hunt with a gun.

Phrasal Verb(s):
gun for

To pursue relentlessly so as to overcome or destroy.
To go after in earnest; set out to obtain: gunning for a promotion.

Idiom(s):
go great guns
To proceed or perform with great speed, skill, or success.

Idiom(s):
hold a gun to (someone's) head
To put pressure on someone.

Idiom(s):
under the gun
Under great pressure or under threat.

[Middle English gonne, cannon, short for Gunilda, woman's name applied to a siege engine, from Old Norse Gunnhildr, woman's name : gunnr, war; see g^when- in Indo-European roots + hildr, war.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gun

1339, gunne "an engine of war that throws rocks, arrows or other missiles," probably a shortening of woman's name Gunilda, found in M.E. gonnilde "cannon" and in an Anglo-L. reference to a specific gun from a 1330 munitions inventory of Windsor Castle ("...una magna balista de cornu quae Domina Gunilda ..."), from O.N. Gunnhildr, woman's name (from gunnr + hildr, both meaning "war, battle"); the identification of women with powerful weapons is common historically (cf. Big Bertha, Brown Bess, etc.); meaning shifted with technology, from cannons to firearms as they developed 15c. Great guns (cannon, etc.) distinguished from small guns (such as muskets) from c.1408. First applied to pistols and revolvers 1744. Meaning "thief, rascal" is from 1858. The verb meaning "to shoot with a gun" is from 1622; the sense of "to accelerate an engine" is from 1930. Gun-shy is 1884, originally of sporting dogs. Son of a gun is originally nautical. Gun-metal (commonly an alloy of copper and zinc) used attributively of a dull blue-gray color since 1905. Gunboat is from 1793; gunboat diplomacy is from 1927, originally with reference to China.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

gun
noun
1.	a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
2.	large but transportable armament [syn: artillery]
3.	a person who shoots a gun (as regards their ability) [syn: gunman]
4.	a professional killer who uses a gun
5.	a hand-operated pump that resembles a revolver; 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]
7.	the discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies; "two runners started before the gun"; "a twenty gun salute"
verb
1.	shoot with a gun

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

gun

In addition to the idiom beginning with gun, also see at gunpoint; big cheese (gun); great guns; hired gun; hold a gun to someone's head; jump the gun; smoking gun; son of a bitch (gun); stick to one's guns; under the gun.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

gun jargon
(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)

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Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Jargon File 4.2.0

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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Gun Barrel City, TX (town, FIPS 31592) Location: 32.32738 N, 96.13644 W
Population (1990): 3526 (2130 housing units)
Area: 10.3 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 75147

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gun

Can"non\, n.; pl. Cannons, collectively Cannon. [F. cannon, fr. L. canna reed, pipe, tube. See Cane.]

1. A great gun; a piece of ordnance or artillery; a firearm for discharging heavy shot with great force.

Note: Cannons are made of various materials, as iron, brass, bronze, and steel, and of various sizes and shapes with respect to the special service for which they are intended, as intended, as siege, seacoast, naval, field, or mountain, guns. They always aproach more or less nearly to a cylindrical from, being usually thicker toward the breech than at the muzzle. Formerly they were cast hollow, afterwards they were cast, solid, and bored out. The cannon now most in use for the armament of war vessels and for seacoast defense consists of a forged steel tube reinforced with massive steel rings shrunk upon it. Howitzers and mortars are sometimes called cannon. See Gun.

2. (Mech.) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.

3. (Printing.) A kind of type. See Canon.

Cannon ball, strictly, a round solid missile of stone or iron made to be fired from a cannon, but now often applied to a missile of any shape, whether solid or hollow, made for cannon. Elongated and cylindrical missiles are sometimes called bolts; hollow ones charged with explosives are properly called shells.

Cannon bullet, a cannon ball. [Obs.]

Cannon cracker, a fire cracker of large size.

Cannon lock, a device for firing a cannon by a percussion primer.

Cannon metal. See Gun Metal.

Cannon pinion, the pinion on the minute hand arbor of a watch or clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be moved in setting.

Cannon proof, impenetrable by cannon balls.

Cannon shot. (a) A cannon ball. (b) The range of a cannon.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Gun

Gin\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gan, Gon (?), or Gun (?); 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[=i]nan to yawn, and E. yawn. ? 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.

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Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

GUN

GUN: in Acronym Finder

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