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Gatling gun
//ˈɡætlɪŋ ˌɡʌn// noun, slang
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A type of repeating firearm with several barrels on a rotating frame, in use from the 1860s to the 1910s, providing fully automatic fire similar to that of modern machine guns and autocannons.
"They say that the Gatling who invented Gatling guns imagined that they would reduce the scale of human warfare, poor old chap."
- 2 an early form of machine gun having several barrels that fire in sequence as they are rotated wordnet
- 3 Any of various later weapons with a similar concept of operation (spinning a rotating set of barrels). broadly, slang
"Near-synonyms: minigun, autocannon"
Etymology
Named after American inventor Richard Jordan Gatling.
See also for "gatling gun"
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