Library / English Dictionary

GUN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: gunned    , gunning   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies

Example:

a twenty gun salute

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

discharge; firing; firing off (the act of discharging a gun)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Derivation:

gun (shoot with a gun)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A pedal that controls the throttle valve

Example:

he stepped on the gas

Synonyms:

accelerator; accelerator pedal; gas; gas pedal; gun; throttle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

foot lever; foot pedal; pedal; treadle (a lever that is operated with the foot)

Holonyms ("gun" is a part of...):

aeroplane; airplane; plane (an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets)

auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Large but transportable armament

Synonyms:

artillery; gun; heavy weapon; ordnance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

armament (weaponry used by military or naval force)

Meronyms (parts of "gun"):

gunstock; stock (the handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gun"):

cannon (a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels)

field artillery; field gun (movable artillery (other than antiaircraft) used by armies in the field (especially for direct support of front-line troops))

four-pounder (an artillery gun that throws a shot weighing four pounds)

Holonyms ("gun" is a part of...):

battery (a collection of related things intended for use together)

Derivation:

gun (shoot with a gun)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A hand-operated pump that resembles a pistol; forces grease into parts of a machine

Synonyms:

grease gun; gun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

pump (a mechanical device that moves fluid or gas by pressure or suction)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

arm; weapon; weapon system (any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting)

Meronyms (parts of "gun"):

gunstock; stock (the handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun)

safety catch; safety lock (guard consisting of a locking device that prevents a weapon from being fired)

gun trigger; trigger (lever that activates the firing mechanism of a gun)

gun-sight; gunsight (a sight used for aiming a gun)

gun muzzle; muzzle (the open circular discharging end of a gun)

firing mechanism; gunlock (the action that ignites the charge in a firearm)

firing chamber; gun chamber (chamber that is the part of a gun that receives the charge)

cartridge clip; cartridge holder; clip; magazine (a metal frame or container holding cartridges; can be inserted into an automatic gun)

cartridge extractor; cartridge remover; extractor (a mechanism in a firearm that pulls an empty shell case out of the chamber and passes it to the ejector)

cartridge ejector; ejector (a mechanism in a firearm that ejects the empty shell case after firing)

barrel; gun barrel (a tube through which a bullet travels when a gun is fired)

action; action mechanism (the operating part that transmits power to a mechanism)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gun"):

whaling gun (a gun (or device resembling a gun) for discharging a projectile (especially a harpoon) at a whale)

set gun; spring gun (a gun that is set to fire on any intruder that comes in contact with the wire that sets it off)

Quaker gun (a dummy gun or piece of artillery made usually of wood)

minute gun ((military) gun that is discharged once every minute (usually as part of a military funeral))

gas gun (a gun that fires gas shells)

firearm; piece; small-arm (a portable gun)

cannon (heavy gun fired from a tank)

cannon (heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane)

breechloader (a gun that is loaded at the breech)

ack-ack; ack-ack gun; antiaircraft; antiaircraft gun; flack; flak; pom-pom (artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes)

air gun; air rifle; airgun (a gun that propels a projectile by compressed air)

Derivation:

gun (shoot with a gun)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A professional killer who uses a gun

Synonyms:

gun; gun for hire; gunman; gunslinger; hired gun; hit man; hitman; shooter; torpedo; triggerman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

liquidator; manslayer; murderer (a criminal who commits homicide (who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being))

Derivation:

gun (shoot with a gun)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A person who shoots a gun (as regards their ability)

Synonyms:

gun; gunman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("gun" is a kind of...):

shooter; shot (a person who shoots (usually with respect to their ability to shoot))

Derivation:

gun (shoot with a gun)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shoot with a gun

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "gun" is one way to...):

blast; shoot (fire a shot)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "gun"):

machine gun (shoot with a machine gun)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Also:

gun down (strike down or shoot down)

Derivation:

gun (the discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies)

gun (large but transportable armament)

gun (a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel))

gun (a professional killer who uses a gun)

gun (a person who shoots a gun (as regards their ability))

gunner (a serviceman in the artillery)

Credits

 Context examples: 

However, the median number of trigger pulls among children who saw the movie containing guns was 2.8 trigger pulls compared with 0.01 trigger pulls among children who saw the movie not containing guns.

(Better Not to Show Kids Movies with Guns, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The fellow would take the boat and my father’s best gun and treat himself to little shooting trips.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"The crash of a gun in this silent night would be heard for miles. Keep it as a last card."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Gun in hand, he plunged into the underbrush that lined the side of the trail.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“Mother,” he said, with an impatient bite at the handkerchief in which his hand was wrapped, “you had better take and fire a loaded gun at me.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When a sharp puff came it seemed to be like a distant gun.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Finding it was likely to overblow, we took in our sprit-sail, and stood by to hand the fore-sail; but making foul weather, we looked the guns were all fast, and handed the mizen.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Your career will also be going great guns, and when it comes to money, you will have the golden touch.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I have hardly taken out a gun since the 3rd.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A gigantic monster, they said, had arrived the night before, armed with a gun and many pistols, putting to flight the inhabitants of a solitary cottage through fear of his terrific appearance.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)