What does "coilgun" mean?

Any of various devices that use electromagnets to accelerate a magnetic projectile via non contact means

What is a synonym for "coilgun"?

Common synonyms include: electric gun, gauss gun, gauss gun, railgun.

//ˈkɔɪl.ɡʌn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of various devices that use electromagnets to accelerate a magnetic projectile via non contact means

From coil + gun. From being a projectile ejecting device whose launcher tube is wrapped in electromagnetic coils.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.