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cannon

1 American  
[kan-uhn] / ˈkæn ən /

noun

plural

cannons,

plural

cannon

  1. a mounted gun for firing heavy projectiles; a gun, howitzer, or mortar.

  2. British Machinery. quill.

  3. Armor. a cylindrical or semicylindrical piece of plate armor for the upper arm or forearm; a vambrace or rerebrace.

  4. Also called canon bit.  Also called cannon bit,.  a round bit for a horse.

  5. the part of a bit that is in the horse's mouth.

  6. (on a bell) the metal loop by which a bell is hung.

  7. Zoology.

    1. cannon bone.

    2. the part of the leg in which the cannon bone is situated.

  8. British. a carom in billiards.

  9. Underworld Slang. a pickpocket.

verb (used without object)

  1. to discharge cannon.

  2. British. to make a carom in billiards.

Cannon 2 American  
[kan-uhn] / ˈkæn ən /

noun

  1. Annie Jump 1863–1941, U.S. astronomer.

  2. Joseph Gurney Uncle Joe, 1836–1926, U.S. politician and legislator.

cannon British  
/ ˈkænən /

noun

  1. an automatic aircraft gun of large calibre

  2. history a heavy artillery piece consisting of a metal tube mounted on a carriage

  3. a heavy tube or drum, esp one that can rotate freely on the shaft by which it is supported

  4. the metal loop at the top of a bell, from which it is suspended

  5. See cannon bone

  6. billiards

    1. a shot in which the cue ball is caused to contact one object ball after another

    2. Usual US and Canadian word: carom.  the points scored by this

  7. a rebound or bouncing back, as of a ball off a wall

  8. either of the two parts of a vambrace

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to collide (with)

  2. short for cannonade

  3. (intr) billiards to make a cannon

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cannon Scientific  
/ kăn′ən /

  1. American astronomer noted for her work on classifying stellar spectra. Cannon classified the spectra of 225,300 stars brighter than magnitude 8.5, as well as 130,000 fainter stars.

Etymology

Origin of cannon

First recorded in 1375–1425 (earlier in Anglo-Latin, Anglo-French ); late Middle English canon, from Middle French, from Italian cannone, equivalent to cann(a) “tube” (from Latin ) + -one augmentative suffix; cane

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Embassy is located, before they were dispersed amid thick clouds of smoke and what appeared to be water cannons.

From The Wall Street Journal

Both the Union and Confederate governments stockpiled rifles and cannons in anticipation of conflict.

From Literature

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has effectively been fired out of a cannon — disowned by the Royal Family and the political classes, and stripped of his titles.

From BBC

“ETF issuers are firing the spaghetti cannon at the wall in the hopes that a couple of noodles stick,” Morningstar analysts wrote in a December report.

From The Wall Street Journal

Thundering drums and shredding guitar solos cut through the crowd as pyrotechnics and streamer cannons blast.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.