gun
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gun¹
- /ˈɡʌn/
- /ˈɡɜn/
- /ɡʊn/ Ireland, Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌn
Where it comes from
From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war (compare Nordic Gunn, a female name meaning “battle”). The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".
noun guns
- A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot. They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect.
- A very portable, short firearm, for hand use, which fires bullets or projectiles, such as a handgun, revolver, pistol, or Derringer.
- A less portable, long firearm that fires bullets or projectiles; a rifle, either manual, automatic or semi-automatic; a flintlock, musket or shotgun.
- A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity.
- A cannon with a 6-inch/155mm minimum nominal bore diameter and tube length 30 calibers or more.
- A firearm or cannon used for saluting or signalling. 21-gun salute
- Any implement designed to fire a projectile from a tube. air-pressure pellet gun
- A device or tool that projects a substance. squirt gun
- A device or tool that applies something rather than projecting it. a rivet gun
- A long surfboard designed for surfing big waves (not the same as a longboard, a gun has a pointed nose and is generally a little narrower). 2000, Drew Kampion, surfline.com by the winter of 1962, the Brewer Surfboards Hawaii gun was the most in-demand big-wave equipment on the North Shore.
- A pattern that "fires" out other patterns. The glider gun on the bottom of the NOT circuit emits a continuous stream of gliders, while the data stream source emits a glider only when there is a value of 1 in the stream[…].
- A person who carries or uses a gun (rifle, shotgun or handgun), particularly with reference to how quickly the person can draw and fire the gun. Some said that the cowboy was the fastest gun in the West.
- A gentleman participant in a shooting weekend, typically on an English estate. Etiquette dictated that Herbert Bartholemew-Graves, the unfortunate gun who had mistakenly shot the gamekeeper, must never shoot again.
- An electron gun. The problem is figuring out how to get the electrons from the red gun to hit only the red phosphors, the electrons from the blue gun to hit only the blue phosphors, and so on.
- The biceps.
- Violent blasts of wind.
- Someone excellent, surpassingly wonderful, skilful, or cool. Crikey, look at him drive! Your mate Darren is a real gun.
verb guns · gunning · gunned
- To shoot with a gun. What's the use of foolishness like calling a gentleman bad names when he can gun you in the dark and you're no good even at striking matches?
- To cause to speed up. He gunned the engine.
- To offer vigorous support to (a person or cause). We're all gunning for you.
- To strongly desire or seek, and make a great effort to obtain (something which one is 'gunning for' or 'gunning to do'). Australian John Landy, one of Bannister’s rivals also gunning to break the four-minute barrier, took more than a second off the Briton’s time in Turku, Finland, a few weeks later.
- To seek to attack someone; to take aim at someone; used with for. He's been gunning for you ever since you embarrassed him at the party.
- To practice fowling or hunting small game; chiefly in participial form: to go gunning.
-
Synonym of gun down (“to masturbate while making sustained eye contact with someone — typically a female prison officer — as a form of intimidation”).
[…] all inmates participated in such conduct, and […] "the inmates gunned only female staff, not the all-male security staff," he said.
Similar: gun down
gun²
Where it comes from
Related to ganef.
noun guns
- A magsman or street thief. To discover […] how the honest poor are compelled to hob-and-nob with the “shoful pitcher” and the “gun,” it is necessary to visit the vast nursery-grounds of crime.
gun³
Where it comes from
From gunna, from gonna, from going to.
verb
- Nonstandard spelling of going to I'm gun go get my coat from da closet.
Gun⁴
proper noun
- A Gbe language spoken in parts of Benin and Nigeria.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shooter, artillery, ordnance, gunslinger, gas pedal, throttle, gunman, gas, hit man, accelerator, hired gun, torpedo, accelerator pedal, grease-gun, heavy weapon, uzi
Translations
Every language
noun shooting device functioning through stored energy
| Français | flingue |
|---|
noun portable, short weapon, for hand use
| Español | pistola, charpe |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 총 chong, 권총 gwonchong |
| 日本語 | 銃 jū, 鉄砲 teppō, ガン gan |
| 中文 | 手槍 /手枪 shǒuqiāng, 槍 /枪 qiāng |
| हिन्दी | बंदूक़ bandūq, तमंचा tamañcā, पिस्तौल pistaul |
| Kiswahili | bunduki |
| Português | arma de fogo, pistola |
| Français | pistolet, flingue |
| Deutsch | Pistole, Handbüchse |
| Italiano | pistola |
| Ελληνικά | πιστόλι pistóli, περίστροφο perístrofo |
| Română | pistol, revolver |
| Русский | пистоле́т pistolét, ствол stvol, пу́шка púška, револьве́р revolʹvér |
| Tiếng Việt | súng lục, súng sáu, súng ngắn |
| العربية | مُسَدَّس musaddas, طَبَنْجَة ṭabanja, مُسَدَّسَة musaddasa |
| עברית | אֶקְדָּח ekdákh |
noun less portable, long weapon
| Español | escopeta, rifle, fusil |
|---|---|
| Kiswahili | bunduki |
| Português | fuzil, rifle |
| Français | fusil |
| Deutsch | Gewehr |
| Italiano | fucile |
| Ελληνικά | τουφέκι touféki |
| Română | pușcă |
| Русский | ружьё ružʹjó |
| Tiếng Việt | súng trường |
| עברית | רוֹבֶה rové |
noun military: cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity
| Español | cañón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 총 chong |
| 日本語 | 銃 jū, 大砲 taihō |
| 中文 | 火砲 /火炮 huǒpào, 大砲 /大炮 dàpào, 砲 /炮 pào |
| Português | canhão |
| Français | canon |
| Deutsch | Geschütz, Kanone |
| Italiano | cannone |
| Ελληνικά | κανόνι kanóni |
| Română | tun |
| Русский | пу́шка púška, ору́дие orúdije |
| Tiếng Việt | đại bác |
| العربية | مِدْفَع midfaʕ |
| עברית | תּוֹתָח totákh |
noun military: cannon with tube length 30 calibers or more
| Español | obús |
|---|---|
| Português | obus |
| Deutsch | Geschütz, Kanone |
| Italiano | obice |
| Русский | пу́шка púška, ору́дие orúdije |
| Tiếng Việt | đại bác |
| עברית | תּוֹתָח totákh |
verb speed something up
| Español | disparar |
|---|---|
| Português | acelerar |
| Русский | приба́вить газу pribávitʹ gazu, газова́ть gazovátʹ, газану́ть gazanútʹ |
Talk about this word "gun." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gun. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gun. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gun "gun." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gun.
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@misc{gun_2026,
title = {gun},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gun},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
