Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| airgun | a gun that discharges missiles by means of compressed air. |
| amusette | a light field cannon, or stocked gun mounted on a swivel. |
| antitank | intended to counter tanks. |
| an early type of portable firearm; spec. one supported on a tripod by a hook or on a forked rest. | |
| artillery | offensive weapons of war esp. nowadays heavy guns. |
| arty | artillery. |
| backsight | the sight of a rifle nearer the stock. |
| ballistic | relating to projectiles. |
| ballistics | the science of the motion of projectiles; esp. that part of the subject connected with firearms. |
| bandook bundook | (Indian army slang) a rifle, a shotgun. |
| barker | a pistol. |
| basilisk | a brass cannon throwing a shot of about 200 lb. |
| bazooka | a portable tubular anti-tank rocket launcher. |
| beebee | a pellet e.g. for an air-gun. |
| birdshot | small shot suitable for shooting birds. |
| blunderbuss | an old-fashioned gun. [Du. donder, thunder, + bus, tube, gun; changed by association with blunder]. |
| bombard | an early cannon for throwing stones; (verb) to attack with artillery. |
| broadside | all the guns on one side of a ship of war; their simultaneous discharge; (verb) to deliver a broadside. |
| buckshot | a large kind of shot, used in shooting deer. |
| bullet | a projectile, now esp. a round or conical one fired from any kind of small arm; (verb) in printing, to mark with a bullet-point > BULLETED, BULLETING. |
| bundook | see BANDOOK. |
| buttstock | the stock of a firearm in the rear of the breech mechanism. |
| caliber calibre | the diameter of a bullet or shell; the diameter of the bore of a gun or tube. |
| calibered calibred | having a given CALIBER. |
| caliver | an early form of hand gun, a variety of the ARQUEBUS. |
| canister | a type of shot. See GRAPESHOT. |
| cannon | a large gun mounted on wheels; a rapid-firing large-calibre gun fitted to an aircraft, ship or helicopter gunship; (verb) to collide with, strike on the rebound. |
| cannonade | an attack with heavy artillery; (verb) to attack with heavy artillery. |
| cannonball | a ball to be shot from a cannon. |
| cannonry | cannon, collectively; artillery. |
| carabin carabine carbine | a rifle with a relatively short barrel. |
| carronade | a short and light maritime cannon of large bore, typically mounted on slides rather than wheels. |
| cartridge | a case containing the charge for a gun (blank cartridge with powder only; ball cartridge with a bullet as well). |
| cascabel cascable | the part behind the base-ring of a cannon. |
| chainshot | two half or whole cannon-balls joined by a chain, for damaging ships' rigging etc. |
| chassepot | a kind of breechloading, center-fire rifle, or improved needle gun. |
| chokebore | a gun that narrows toward muzzle. |
| coehorn cohorn | a small mortar for throwing grenades. [f. Menno, Baron van Coehoorn (1641—1704), Dutch soldier and military engineer]. Also COEHORN. |
| crossfire | the crossing of lines of fire from two or more points. |
| crosshair | a fine wire at the focus of an optical instrument, crossing the field of view, to aid in positioning or measuring. |
| culverin | a lightweight, portable, long-barrelled cannon. |
| deringer derringer | a small single-shot or multi-barrelled (rarely more than two) pocket pistol. |
| dogbolt | the bolt of the cap-square over the trunnion of a cannon. |
| doppie | a cartridge-case. [Dutch dop, shell, case]. |
| drumfire | massed artillery fire with a rolling sound. |
| dumdum | a soft-nosed expanding bullet. |
| enfilade | a number of things arranged as if threaded on a string; (verb) to discharge or be in a position to discharge firearms along the whole length of a line. |
| enginery | the act or art of managing engines, or artillery. |
| escopette | a kind of firearm; a carbine. |
| falconet | one of the smaller cannon used in the 15th century and later. |
| fieldpiece | a cannon mounted on wheels, for the use of a marching army; a piece of field artillery; -- called also field gun. |
| fieldstrip | to take apart a weapon for routine cleaning etc. |
| fireable | capable of being fired. |
| firearm | a weapon discharged by explosion. |
| firearmed | carrying a firearm. |
| firelock | an old form of gunlock, as the flintlock, which ignites the priming by a spark. |
| firepower | the amount of ammunition that can be fired with effect in a given time; the total offensive power or materials of a fighting force or any one of its machines or units. |
| flak | anti-aircraft fire; strong criticism; hostile reaction. [An acronym of German Fliegerabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun), from Flieger (aircraft, literally flyer) or Flug (flight) + Abwehr (defense) + Kanone (gun).] |
| flintlock | an old-fashioned gun with spark provided by a hammer striking a flint. |
| fusil fuzil | a type of musket. |
| fusillade | a simultaneous or successive discharge of firearms. |
| fuzil | see FUSIL. |
| gat | a gun. |
| gatling | as in gatling gun, a kind of machine-gun. |
| gingal jingal gingall jingall | a large Chinese or Indian swivel-musket. [Hindi janjal]. |
| grapeshot | clustered iron shot that scatters when fired. The individual projectiles were about the size of a grape. An intermediate size of shot (usually called CANISTER) was also used. Grape shot weighed about an ounce; the shot in a canister were 4-8 ounces each. Grape was an anti-personnel weapon; canister was aimed at equipment, such as ship's boats. |
| gun | a weapon containing a tube from which projectiles are discharged, usu. by explosion; (verb) to shoot. |
| gunfight | a fight involving two or more people with guns, esp. formerly in the old American West; (verb) to engage in a gunfight > GUNFOUGHT. |
| gunfire | the firing of guns. |
| gunflint | a sharpened flint for the lock of a gun, to ignite the charge; supplanted by percussion caps. |
| gunless | without a gun. |
| gunlock | the lock of a gun, for producing the discharge. |
| gunnage | the number of guns carried on a warship. This total usually didn't include the CARRONADES on the quarter-deck. |
| gunnery | that branch of military science which deals with projectiles and ordnance. |
| gunpaper | a type of explosive paper. |
| gunplay | the use of guns, esp. in a fight. |
| gunshot | the act of firing a gun; a shot. |
| gunsight | a device helping the user of a gun to aim at a target. |
| gunslinging | the act of wearing a gun. |
| gunstick | a stick to ram down the charge of a musket, etc.; a rammer or ramrod. |
| gunstock | the stock or wood to which the barrel of a hand gun is fastened. |
| hackbut | a harquebus; a matchlock gun invented in the 15th century. |
| hagbut | a kind of HARQUEBUS. |
| hailshot | small shot which scatters like hailstones. |
| handgun | a gun that can be held and fired in one hand. |
| harquebus | see ARQUEBUS. |
| harquebuse | see ARQUEBUS. |
| harquebuss | see ARQUEBUS. |
| howitzer | a short relatively light gun for the high-angle firing of shells at a low velocity. [Du. houwitser f. Ger. Haubitze]. |
| jezail | a long heavy Afghan musket. |
| jingal | see GINGAL. |
| jingall | see GINGAL. |
| kalashnikov | any weapon designed by Antonin Kalashnikov. The most famous example is the AK-47, a type of sub-machine gun. |
| langrage langrel langridge | a shot consisting of CANISTER containing irregular pieces of iron, formerly used to damage sails and rigging. |
| linstock lintstock | a pointed forked staff, shod with iron at the foot, to hold a lighted match for firing cannon. |
| matchlock | an early form of gun. |
| mitraille | shot or bits of iron used sometimes in loading cannon. |
| mitrailleur | a machine-gunner. |
| mitrailleuse | a machine-gun. |
| mortar | a short piece of artillery for throwing a heavy shell; (verb) to join or plaster with mortar. |
| multibarreled multibarrelled | of a gun, having many barrels. |
| musket | a long-barrelled muzzle-loading shoulder gun used between the 16th and 18th centuries by infantry soldiers. |
| musketoon | a short musket. |
| musketry | muskets collectively. |
| musquetoon | a short musket; a soldier armed with one. |
| oerlikon | an anti-aircraft cannon. [From Oerlikon, near Zurich]. |
| ordnance | military stores or supplies; missiles discharged in war; artillery. |
| paderero paterero pederero pedrero | a term formerly applied to a short piece of chambered ordnance. Pl. in each case is —OS or -OES. |
| perrier | a short mortar used formerly for throwing stone shot. |
| petronel | a sort of hand cannon, or portable firearm, used in France in the 15th century. |
| pistol | a small handgun, held in one hand when fired; (verb) to shoot with a pistol > PISTOLED/PISTOLLED. |
| pistolet | a small pistol. |
| popgun | a tube for shooting pellets by compressed air; a contemptible gun. |
| potgun | a pot-shaped cannon; a mortar. |
| potshot | a random shot, a snapshot. |
| rafale | a burst of artillery in quick rounds. [Fr. rafale, squall]. |
| ramrod | A rod for ramming down a charge into, or for cleaning, a gun-barrel; (verb) to push or drive with great force > RAMRODDED. |
| recoilless | without recoil (of a gun). |
| reloader | a device for reloading e.g. a gun. |
| revolver | a pistol with a rotating magazine. |
| ricochet | the action of a projectile, esp. a bullet or shell, in rebounding at an angle off a surface or surfaces after being fired. |
| rifle | a firearm with a spirally grooved barrel; (verb) to groove spirally. |
| rimfire | a rimmed or flanged cartridge with the priming mixture located inside the rim of the case. |
| roscoe | a gun. |
| sabot | an attachment to guide a projectile through the bore of a firearm. |
| salvo | to discharge firearms simultaneously; (noun) a simultaneous discharge of firearms. Pl. SALVOS or SALVOES. |
| scattergun | a SHOTGUN. |
| scattershot | random, indiscriminate, wide-ranging, as is shot from a gun. No —S. |
| shell | an explosive projectile shot from a cannon, large gun, etc. |
| shellfire | the firing of shells. |
| shotgun | a smooth-bore gun for firing shot at relatively short range; (verb) to shoot with a shotgun. |
| sidearm | a weapon esp. a gun worn at the side or in a belt. |
| smoothbore smoothbored | having a bore of perfectly smooth surface; -- distinguished from rifled. |
| speargun | a spearfishing gun. |
| spiker | a device for spiking a cannon. |
| stonk | an intense bombardment. N.B. this is a noun: there is an adjective STONKING, meaning very large, but no STONKED*. |
| strafe straff | to rake with machine-gun fire from low-flying aeroplanes. |
| strafer | one who STRAFES. |
| subcaliber subcalibre | of a calibre less than the firearm or barrel used to fire it. This is accomplished by surrounding the bullet by a SABOT. |
| supergun | a very large gun. |
| tampion tompion | a protective plug placed in the mouth of a gun or cannon. |
| tase | to immobilize with a TASER. |
| taser | a gunlike device which fires electrified darts; (verb) to immobilize with a TASER. |
| tenpounder | a ten-pound gun. |
| tipstock | a part of a gun. |
| touchhole | the vent of a cannon or other firearm, by which fire is communicated to the powder of the charge. |
| tracer | a kind of ammunition. |
| volley | the discharge of many weapons (esp. small arms) at once; (verb) to deliver a volley. |
| whizbang whizzbang | a light shell of high velocity which is heard arriving before the gun's report; a firework resembling this. |
| windage | the deflection of a projectile by the wind; the allowance made for this in aiming the gun. |
| windgun | an air-gun. |
| zamboorak zomboruk zumbooruck zumbooruk | a small swivel-gun, esp. one mounted on the back of a camel. |