From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
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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.
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2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
cannon.
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3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
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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]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cannon \Can"non\, n.; pl. {Cannons}, collectively {Cannon}. [F.
cannon, fr. L. canna reed, pipe, tube. See {Cane}.]
1. A great gun; a piece of ordnance or artillery; a firearm
for discharging heavy shot with great force.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Cannons are made of various materials, as iron, brass,
bronze, and steel, and of various sizes and shapes with
respect to the special service for which they are
intended, as intended, as siege, seacoast, naval,
field, or mountain, guns. They always aproach more or
less nearly to a cylindrical from, being usually
thicker toward the breech than at the muzzle. Formerly
they were cast hollow, afterwards they were cast,
solid, and bored out. The cannon now most in use for
the armament of war vessels and for seacoast defense
consists of a forged steel tube reinforced with massive
steel rings shrunk upon it. Howitzers and mortars are
sometimes called cannon. See {Gun}.
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2. (Mech.) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving
shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.
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3. (Printing.) A kind of type. See {Canon}.
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{Cannon ball}, strictly, a round solid missile of stone or
iron made to be fired from a cannon, but now often applied
to a missile of any shape, whether solid or hollow, made
for cannon. Elongated and cylindrical missiles are
sometimes called bolts; hollow ones charged with
explosives are properly called shells.
{Cannon bullet}, a cannon ball. [Obs.]
{Cannon cracker}, a fire cracker of large size.
{Cannon lock}, a device for firing a cannon by a percussion
primer.
{Cannon metal}. See {Gun Metal}.
{Cannon pinion}, the pinion on the minute hand arbor of a
watch or clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be
moved in setting.
{Cannon proof}, impenetrable by cannon balls.
{Cannon shot}.
(a) A cannon ball.
(b) The range of a cannon.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cannon \Can"non\, v. i.
1. To discharge cannon.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
2. To collide or strike violently, esp. so as to glance off
or rebound; to strike and rebound.
He heard the right-hand goal post crack as a pony
cannoned into it -- crack, splinter, and fall like a
mast. --Kipling.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cannon \Can"non\, n. & v. (Billiards)
See {Carom}. [Eng.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Carom \Car"om\, n. [Prob. corrupted fr. F. carumboler to carom,
carambolage a carom, carambole the red ball in billiards.]
(Billiards)
A shot in which the ball struck with the cue comes in contact
with two or more balls on the table; a hitting of two or more
balls with the player's ball. In England it is called
{cannon}.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
cannon
n 1: a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels
2: heavy gun fired from a tank
3: (Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect
the arm
4: heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane
5: lower part of the leg extending from the hock to the fetlock
in hoofed mammals [syn: {cannon}, {shank}]
6: a shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object
ball and then the other [syn: {carom}, {cannon}]
v 1: make a cannon
2: fire a cannon
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