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blunderbusses

 - 2 dictionary results

blun⋅der⋅buss

  [bluhn-der-buhs]
Use blunderbusses in a Sentence
–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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