cannon
English · Thesaurus
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cannon¹
- /ˈkæn.ən/
Sounds like canon · Rhymes with -ænən
Where it comes from
Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na) (for more, see cane). Doublet of canyon. This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.
noun cannons · cannon
- A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar, which may include muzzle appendages. Holonyms: gun, field gun; howitzer; mortar
- Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube. water cannon; glitter cannon; confetti cannon; potato cannon
- An autocannon.
- A bone of a horse’s leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock.
- A rolled and filleted loin of meat. a canon of beef or lamb
- A cannon bit.
-
A large muzzle-loading artillery piece.
Near-synonym: gun (often synonymous)
Similar: gun
- A carom. In English billiards, a cannon is when one’s cue ball strikes the other player’s cue ball and the red ball on the same shot; and it is worth two points.
- The arm of a player who can throw well. He’s got a cannon out in right.
- A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.
- A cylindrical item of plate armor protecting the arm, particularly one of a pair of such cylinders worn with a couter, the upper cannon protecting the upper arm and the lower cannon protecting the forearm. The pauldrons are rather weak, but the cannons of the vambraces are good and come from an Italian armour of considerably earlier date, for they have the tulip form of the first half of the century.
- Alternative form of canon (“a large size of type”).
- A piece which moves horizontally and vertically like a rook but captures another piece by jumping over a different piece in the line of attack.
- A pickpocket. I also learned never to conspicuoulsy^([sic]) watch a cannon while he was working. Pickpockets dislike being watched, even by those who may be "right," because they become uneasy and clumsy and feel conspicuous.
verb cannons · cannoning · cannoned
- To bombard with cannons.
- To play the carom billiard shot; to strike two balls with the cue ball. The white cannoned off the red onto the pink.
- To fire something, especially spherical, rapidly. Montenegro had hardly threatened in the second period but served notice they were still potent as Nikola Vukcevic took a smart pass from Jovetic and cannoned a shot off Hennessey's shins.
- To collide or strike violently, especially so as to glance off or rebound. […] he heard the right-hand goal post crack as a pony cannoned into it—crack, splinter, and fall like a mast.
cannon²
noun
- Misspelling of canon
adjective
- Misspelling of canon
Cannon³
- /ˈkænən/ US
Where it comes from
* As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Canann (“descendant of Cana”), Ó Canáin (“descendant of Canán”), from cana (“wolf cub”). Comparable to McCann, McConnon, Connon.
* As an English surname, from the noun canon.
* As a French surname, variant of Canon.
proper noun Cannons · Channon
- A surname. The hearing in front of Judge Aileen M. Cannon at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., could touch on other issues, including the scheduling of the trial.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shank, carom, howitzer, artillery, cannonball, shotgun, gun, revolver, pistol, barrel, bomb, canyon, hottie, hot, knockout, defender
Translations
Every language
noun artillery piece
| Español | cañón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 캐넌 kaeneon, 대포 daepo |
| 日本語 | 大砲 taihō, キャノン kyanon, カノン砲 kanon hō |
| 中文 | 炮 pào, 大砲 /大炮 dàpào, 加農炮 /加农炮 jiānóngpào, 加農 /加农 jiānóng |
| हिन्दी | तोप top, कमान kamān |
| Kiswahili | mzinga |
| Português | canhão |
| Français | canon |
| Deutsch | Kanone |
| Italiano | cannone |
| Ελληνικά | κανόνι kanóni |
| Română | tun |
| Русский | пу́шка púška, ору́дие orúdije |
| Tiếng Việt | pháo, đại pháo, súng thần công |
| العربية | مِدْفَع midfaʕ |
| עברית | תּוֹתָח totákh |
noun billiard shot
| Italiano | carambola |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | καραμπόλα karampóla |
| Русский | карамбо́ль karambólʹ |
verb to bombard with cannons
| Italiano | cannonare, cannoneggiare |
|---|
Talk about this word "cannon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cannon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. cannon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cannon "cannon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cannon.Cite this
@misc{cannon_2026,
title = {cannon},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cannon},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
