Quaker gun

Quaker gun
Quaker Quak"er, n. 1. One who quakes. [1913 Webster]

2. One of a religious sect founded by George {Fox}, of Leicestershire, England, about 1650, -- the members of which call themselves Friends. They were called Quakers, originally, in derision. See {Friend}, n., 4. [1913 Webster]

Fox's teaching was primarily a preaching of repentance . . . The trembling among the listening crowd caused or confirmed the name of Quakers given to the body; men and women sometimes fell down and lay struggling as if for life. --Encyc. Brit. [1913 Webster]

3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The nankeen bird. (b) The sooty albatross. (c) Any grasshopper or locust of the genus {Edipoda}; -- so called from the quaking noise made during flight. [1913 Webster]

{Quaker buttons}. (Bot.) See {Nux vomica}.

{Quaker gun}, a dummy cannon made of wood or other material; -- so called because the sect of Friends, or Quakers, hold to the doctrine, of nonresistance.

{Quaker ladies} (Bot.), a low American biennial plant ({Houstonia c[ae]rulea}), with pretty four-lobed corollas which are pale blue with a yellowish center; -- also called {bluets}, and {little innocents}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Quaker gun — ☆ Quaker gun n. a dummy gun or cannon, as of wood: so called from the Quakers opposition to war and militarism …   English World dictionary

  • Quaker Gun — A Quaker Gun is a fake cannon made from a wooden log, sometimes painted black, used to deceive an enemy. Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic. The name derives from the Religious Society of… …   Wikipedia

  • Quaker Gun — Un Quaker Gun près de Centreville (Virginie), durant la guerre de Sécession. Un Quaker Gun est un canon factice simplement constitué d un rondin de bois, généralement peint en noir, couramment utilisé au cours des guerres du XVIIIe et XIXe… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Quaker gun — noun a dummy gun or piece of artillery made usually of wood • Hypernyms: ↑gun * * * noun Usage: usually capitalized Q Etymology: so called from the Friends opposition to war : a dummy piece of artillery that is usually made of wood * * * a dummy… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Quaker gun — /ˈkweɪkə gʌn/ (say kwaykuh gun) noun a dummy gun on a ship or a fort, usually made from wood and painted to appear to be a real gun; used to deceive the enemy. {from the association of Quaker s with pacificism and an unwillingness to fire a gun} …  

  • Quaker gun — Quak′er gun n. a dummy gun, as on a ship or fort: so called in allusion to the Quakers opposition to war • Etymology: 1800–10, amer …   From formal English to slang

  • Quaker gun — noun Etymology: from opposition to war as a basic Quaker tenet Date: 1809 a dummy piece of artillery usually made of wood …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Quaker gun —    American    a decoy cannon    A usage from the Civil War because, like the Quakers, it wouldn t fire in anger:     After a while a whole battery of Quaker guns were discovered at Centreville. (G. C. Ward, 1990) …   How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

  • Quaker gun — a dummy gun, as on a ship or fort: so called in allusion to the Quakers opposition to war. [1800 10, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • Quaker — Quak er, n. 1. One who quakes. [1913 Webster] 2. One of a religious sect founded by George {Fox}, of Leicestershire, England, about 1650, the members of which call themselves Friends. They were called Quakers, originally, in derision. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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