What does "gun" mean?
A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.
Gun
/ɡʌn/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.
- Grammar: gun is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aa gun, accelerate, accelerator, accelerator pedal.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, bow, bows.
- Usage evidence: The robber aimed his gun at the clerk.
How to use "gun"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "gun" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gun" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "gun" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "gun" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "gun" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aa gun" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "gun", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.
"They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect."
- 2 A magsman or street thief. obsolete, slang
"To discover […] how the honest poor are compelled to hob-and-nob with the “shoful pitcher” and the “gun,” it is necessary to visit the vast nursery-grounds of crime."
- 3 the discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies wordnet
- 4 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.; A very portable, short firearm, for hand use, which fires bullets or projectiles, such as a handgun, revolver, pistol, or Derringer.
- 5 a pedal that controls the throttle valve wordnet
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.; A less portable, long firearm that fires bullets or projectiles; a rifle, either manual, automatic or semi-automatic; a flintlock, musket or shotgun.
- 7 large but transportable armament wordnet
- 8 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.; A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity.
- 9 a hand-operated pump that resembles a pistol; forces grease into parts of a machine wordnet
- 10 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.; A cannon with a 6-inch/155mm minimum nominal bore diameter and tube length 30 calibers or more. See also: howitzer; mortar.
- 11 a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel) wordnet
- 12 A device for shooting projectiles or ditto (a shooter), functioning through stored energy: a firearm, cannon, harpoon gun/spear gun, raygun, etc, not a bow and arrow, or slingshot.; A firearm or cannon used for saluting or signalling.^(21-gun salute) figuratively
"It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.[…]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts."
- 13 a professional killer who uses a gun wordnet
- 14 A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.; Any implement designed to fire a projectile from a tube.
"air-pressure pellet gun"
- 15 a person who shoots a gun (as regards their ability) wordnet
- 16 A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.; A device or tool that projects a substance.
"squirt gun"
- 17 A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.; A device or tool that applies something rather than projecting it.
"a rivet gun"
- 18 A long surfboard designed for surfing big waves (not the same as a longboard, a gun has a pointed nose and is generally a little narrower).
"2000, Drew Kampion, surfline.com by the winter of 1962, the Brewer Surfboards Hawaii gun was the most in-demand big-wave equipment on the North Shore."
- 19 A pattern that "fires" out other patterns.
"The glider gun on the bottom of the NOT circuit emits a continuous stream of gliders, while the data stream source emits a glider only when there is a value of 1 in the stream[…]."
- 20 A person who carries or uses a gun (rifle, shotgun or handgun), particularly with reference to how quickly the person can draw and fire the gun. colloquial, metonymically
"Some said that the cowboy was the fastest gun in the West."
- 21 An electron gun.
"The problem is figuring out how to get the electrons from the red gun to hit only the red phosphors, the electrons from the blue gun to hit only the blue phosphors, and so on."
- 22 The biceps. colloquial, plural-normally
- 23 Violent blasts of wind. in-plural
- 24 Someone excellent, surpassingly wonderful, skilful, or cool. Australia, New-Zealand, slang
Verb
- 1 To cause to speed up. transitive
"He gunned the engine."
- 2 Nonstandard spelling of going to. alt-of, nonstandard
"I'm gun go get my coat from da closet."
- 3 shoot with a gun wordnet
- 4 To offer vigorous support to (a person or cause). informal
"We're all gunning for you."
- 5 (gunning for something or gunning to do something) make a great effort. informal
"Australian John Landy, one of Bannister’s rivals also gunning to break the four-minute barrier, took more than a second off the Briton’s time in Turku, Finland, a few weeks later."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To seek to attack someone; to take aim at someone; used with for.
"He's been gunning for you ever since you embarrassed him at the party."
- 7 To practice fowling or hunting small game; chiefly in participial form: to go gunning.
- 8 Synonym of gun down (“to masturbate while making sustained eye contact with someone — typically a female prison officer — as a form of intimidation”). US, ambitransitive, slang
"[…] all inmates participated in such conduct, and […] "the inmates gunned only female staff, not the all-male security staff," he said."
Proper Noun
- 1 A Gbe language spoken in parts of Benin and Nigeria.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The robber aimed his gun at the clerk."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gun"?
Common synonyms include: aa gun, accelerate, accelerator, accelerator pedal, adventurer, air gun.
How do you use "gun" in a sentence?
The robber aimed his gun at the clerk.
How do you pronounce "gun"?
Pronounced /ɡʌn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war (compare Nordic Gunn, a female name meaning “battle”). The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".
Etymology 2
Related to ganef.
Etymology 3
From gunna, from gonna, from going to.