gun

See also: Gun, gùn, gūn, guṅ, gün, Gün, and gǔn

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English Lady Gunilda, a huge crossbow with a powerful shot, with the second part of the term being of Old Norse origin. It was later used to denote firearms. The name Gunnhildr and its multiple variations are derived from Old Norse gunnr (“battle, war”) + hildr (“battle”), which makes it a pleonasm. In the given context the woman's name means battle maid. See also Hilda, Gunilda, Gunhild, Gunhilda, Gunnhildr.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: gŭn, IPA(key): /ɡʌn/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌn

Noun

gun (plural guns)

  1. A device for projecting a hard object very forcefully; a firearm or cannon.
    Guns were considered improvements of crossbows and catapults.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175, page 030:
      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.
    1. A very portable, short firearm, for hand use, which fires bullets or projectiles, such as a handgun, revolver, pistol, or Derringer.
    2. A less portable, long firearm, bullet or projectile firing; a rifle, either manual, automatic or semi-automatic; a flintlock, musket or shotgun.
    3. (military) A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity.[1]
    4. (military) A cannon with a 6-inch/155mm minimum nominal bore diameter and tube length 30 calibers or more. See also: howitzer; mortar.[1]
    5. (figuratively) A firearm or cannon used for saluting or signalling.Wp
      • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828:
        It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. […]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
  2. A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.
    There are some guns that are not designed for killing.
    1. Any implement designed to fire a projectile from a tube.
      air-pressure pellet gun;  air rifle;  BB gun;  zipgun;  nail gun;  a potato gun
    2. A device or tool that projects a substance.
    3. A device or tool that applies something rather than projecting it.
  3. (surfing) 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.
  4. (cellular automata) A pattern that "fires" out other patterns.
    • 2000, Gary William Flake, The computational beauty of nature
      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 […] .
    • 2010, Andrew Adamatzky, Game of Life Cellular Automata, p.74:
      Greene's period-416 2c/5 spaceship gun
  5. (colloquial, metonymically) A person who carries or uses a rifle, shotgun or handgun.
  6. (colloquial, usually in the plural) The biceps.
  7. (nautical, in the plural) Violent blasts of wind.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Verb

gun (third-person singular simple present guns, present participle gunning, simple past and past participle gunned)

  1. (with “down”) To shoot someone or something, usually with a firearm.
    He gunned down the hitmen.
    The CEO gunned down that idea before we could present it to the board.
  2. To speed something up.
    He gunned the engine.
  3. To offer vigorous support to a person or cause.
    He’s gunning for you.
  4. To seek to attack someone; to take aim at someone.
    He's been gunning for you ever since you embarrassed him at the party.
  5. To practice fowling or hunting small game; chiefly in participial form: to go gunning.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From gunna, from gonna, from going to

Verb

gun

  1. Nonstandard spelling of going to.
    I'm gun go get da gun from da closet.

References

  1. 1 2 JP 1-02. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, 8 November 2010 (As Amended Through 15 March 2012), p.142. (Searchable online version)

Anagrams

Cornish

Noun

gun f (plural gonyow)

  1. plain

Dongxiang

Etymology

From Proto-Mongolic *gün, compare Mongolian гүн (gün).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kuŋ/, [kũ(ŋ)]

Adjective

gun

  1. deep

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɣʏn/
  • Dutch pronunciation(file)

Verb

gun

  1. first-person singular present indicative of gunnen
  2. imperative of gunnen

Japanese

Romanization

gun

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ぐん

Kurdish

Noun

gun m

  1. testicle, ball, bollock, egg, nut, orchis, testis

Mandarin

Romanization

gun

  1. Nonstandard spelling of gūn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of gǔn.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of gùn.

Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Manx

Noun

gun m (genitive singular gunney, plural gunnaghyn)

  1. Alternative form of gunn

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish co.

Alternative forms

Conjunction

gun

  1. that
    an t-amadan sin gun do thagh thu - That fool that you voted for
    am fear gum pòs aig an deireadh na mìosa - that man that will marry at the end of the month
    an taigh gu bheil aice - that house that she has

Etymology 2

From Old Irish cen.

Preposition

gun

  1. without
    gun teagamh - without a doubt
Synonyms
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.