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blun⋅der⋅buss

  [bluhn-der-buhs]
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–noun
1. a short musket of wide bore with expanded muzzle to scatter shot, bullets, or slugs at close range.
2. an insensitive, blundering person.
Origin:
1645–55; < D donderbus (equiv. to donder thunder + bus gun, box 1 ) with donder replaced by blunder. See harquebus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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blun·der·buss   (blŭn'dər-bŭs')   
n.  
  1. A short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter shot at close range.
  2. A person regarded as clumsy and stupid.

[Alteration of Dutch donderbus : donder, thunder (from Middle Dutch doner; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots) + bus, gun (from Middle Dutch busse, tube, from Latin buxis, box; see box1).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Blunderbuss

Blun"der*buss\, n. [Either fr. blunder + D. bus tube, box, akin to G. b["u]chse box, gun, E. box; or corrupted fr. D. donderbus (literally) thunder box, gun, musket.]

1. A short gun or firearm, with a large bore, capable of holding a number of balls, and intended to do execution without exact aim.

2. A stupid, blundering fellow.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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blunderbuss 
1654, from Du. donderbus, from donder "thunder" + bus "gun" (originally "box, tube"), altered by resemblance to blunder.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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blunderbuss

short, muzzle-loading shoulder weapon, usually a flintlock, with a wide smooth bore flared at the muzzle to a maximum width of about 4 inches (10 centimetres). The flaring was intended to scatter the shot at very close range, an effect that later scientific experiments showed did not occur. The blunderbuss, forerunner of the shotgun, was common in the 18th century, though in use somewhat earlier and later.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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