gun

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A weapon that fires bullets or other projectiles.

   The police officer carried a gun on his belt.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who uses a gun, especially one known for shooting quickly.

   He was said to be the fastest gun in the West.

3. 3
   verb

   To shoot someone with a gun.

   The robber was gunned down by the police.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

The first device called a gun in English may have been a medieval catapult used to hurl rocks or arrows. The term may derive from a pet form of the Scandinavian female name Gunnhildr, whose elements gunnr and hildr both mean “war.”

From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war (compare Nordic Gunn, a female name meaning “battle”). The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary