Gatling gun

Gatling gun
Gun Gun (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E. mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.] 1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are called {small arms}. Larger guns are called {cannon}, {ordnance}, {fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc. See these terms in the Vocabulary. [1913 Webster]

As swift as a pellet out of a gunne When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

The word gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing from a man long before there was any gunpowder found out. --Selden. [1913 Webster]

2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a cannon. [1913 Webster]

3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind. [1913 Webster]

Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore}, {breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or {built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field}, {mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}. [1913 Webster]

{Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.

{Big gun} or {Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence (Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big guns to tackle the problem.

{Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.

{Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved.

{Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity. Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun cotton is frequenty but improperly called {nitrocellulose}. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester of nitric acid.

{Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.

{Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun is fired.

{Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.

{Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.

{Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from the gun port.

{Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two single blocks and a fall. --Totten.

{Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.

{Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns, mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier models, such as the {Gatling gun}, the cartridges were loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel. Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such weapons, with accurate aim. The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and {Nordenfelt gun}, named for their inventors, and the French {mitrailleuse}, are machine guns.

{To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n., 3. [1913 Webster +PJC]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gatling gun — Gun Gun (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E. mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.] 1. A weapon which… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gatling gun — 1870, named for designer Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling (1818 1903); patented by 1862 but not used in American Civil War until the Petersburg campaign of June 1864 as an independent initiative by U.S. Gen. Ben Butler. For the first time in this war,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Gatling gun — Gat ling gun [From the inventor, R.J. Gatling.] An American machine gun, consisting of a cluster of barrels which, being revolved by a crank, are automatically loaded and fired. [1913 Webster] Note: The improved Gatling gun can be fired at the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gatling gun — ☆ Gatling gun [gat′liŋ ] n. [after R. J. Gatling (1818 1903), U.S. inventor] an early kind of machine gun having a cluster of barrels designed to be successively discharged automatically when rotated about an axis …   English World dictionary

  • Gatling gun — The Gatling gun is considered by some to have been the first machine gun: although it did not automatically reload under its own power, it was capable of firing continuously. Each barrel fires a single shot as it reaches a certain point in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Gatling Gun — Eine 10 läufige Gatling Gun Die Gatling Gun war die erste erfolgreiche schnell feuernde Schusswaffe. Sie ist ein Vorläufer des automatischen Maschinengewehrs. Das Nachladen wird mit Muskelkraft, mittels der Rotation des um eine Drehachse… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gatling gun — /gat ling/ an early type of machine gun consisting of a revolving cluster of barrels around a central axis, each barrel being automatically loaded and fired every revolution of the cluster. [1860 65, Amer.; named after R. J. Gatling (1818 1903),… …   Universalium

  • Gatling gun — /ˈgætlɪŋ gʌn/ (say gatling gun) noun an early type of machine gun consisting of a revolving cluster of barrels round a central axis, each barrel being automatically loaded and fired during every revolution of the cluster. {named after RJ Gatling …  

  • Gatling gun — Gat′ling gun [[t]ˈgæt lɪŋ[/t]] n. mil an early type of machine gun consisting of a cluster of barrels around an axis that is rotated by a hand crank, with each barrel fired once during each rotation • Etymology: 1860–65, amer.; after R. J.… …   From formal English to slang

  • Gatling gun — noun Etymology: Richard J. Gatling died 1903 American inventor Date: 1867 a machine gun with a revolving cluster of barrels fired once each per revolution …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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