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Glite Dictionary
Spandau

Spandau

1 9.9
A heavy German machine gun used in World War I and II
  • noun
  • /ˈspændaʊ/
  • Archaic
: Spandau
  • He demonstrated the destructive power of the Spandau by firing it at a target range.

Examples

  • The museum featured an exhibit showcasing the iconic Spandau machine gun used in World War I.

  • I spent four years at Spandau, two years at the war academy.

    The Young Lions (1958)

  • The next moment, it was filled with the mad stutter of twin Spandau machine guns.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Nine-millimeter Spandau machine guns with twice the ammo capacity.

    Flyboys (2006)

  • Spandau Ballet.

    The Commitments (1991)

  • Spandau Ballet, 1983.

    Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999)

  • For his part in extending the war and for using slave labor to do so, Speer was condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal to serve 20 years at Spandau Prison.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The soldiers were armed with a Spandau machine gun during the battle in France.

Surface Forms

Spandau singular
Spandaus plural

Etymology

The word Spandau comes from the Spandau district of Berlin, where many German machine guns were made, so British soldiers began calling the guns by that place name. So Spandau now means a German-made machine gun, especially the MG 08 used in the World Wars.