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machine gun

1 American  

noun

  1. a small arm operated by a mechanism, able to deliver a rapid and continuous fire of bullets as long as the trigger is pressed.

machine-gun 2 American  
[muh-sheen-guhn] / məˈʃinˌgʌn /

verb (used with object)

machine-gunned, machine-gunning

  1. to shoot at with a machine gun.

machine gun British  

noun

    1. a rapid-firing automatic gun, usually mounted, from which small-arms ammunition is discharged

    2. ( as modifier )

      machine-gun fire
"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. (tr) to shoot or fire at with a machine gun

"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

Other Word Forms

  • machine gunner noun

Etymology

Origin of machine gun1

First recorded in 1865–70

Origin of machine-gun2

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

Olsen: But I have to ask, what is your interpretation of the floating machine gun?

From Los Angeles Times

A cynic might say the same logic could be used to justify the sale of machine guns to children.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Vahid Online Telegram channel shared two photographs of a black pickup truck with a machine gun mounted in the back in Tehran's Sadeghiyeh Square on the night of 8 January.

From BBC

Adds Taylor: “I was running across a field with a machine gun in my hand, running and jumping. I really thought I was Tom Cruise.”

From Los Angeles Times

Like the British troops who readily acknowledged the “pluck” of the Dervishes, Mr. Hart is impressed by their willingness to face the massed firepower of rifles, machine guns and artillery.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.