burp gun
- noun
- Archaic
:
pistola automática
- In the movie, the character used a burp gun to fend off attackers in a dramatic scene.
Examples
-
The police officer was equipped with a burp gun to handle high-intensity situations.
-
The next thing I knew, the burp gun accidentally went off.
Blog text (4) -
"I had escaped a mine trip wire, an enemy shelling, and now a German burp gun all within hours of each other," Sannella said.
Blog text (4) -
The soldier fired his burp gun rapidly during the training exercise.
Synonyms
3
7.8
A small automatic handgun that fires many bullets very quickly
How Fast
- Specialized
1
4.9
8
4.6
- Archaic
- NSFW
3
7.8
- Specialized
3
4.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
burp + gun
The head noun 'gun' gives a clear clue that this is a type of firearm, while 'burp' is a verb/noun for a short belch and functions here as an onomatopoeic/metaphorical modifier suggesting short, rapid bursts. Because the connection relies on slang/metaphor (the gun 'burps' bullets) rather than a literal compositional meaning, a B1 learner who knows the parts would likely infer it denotes a kind of rapidly firing gun but would not reliably derive the precise technical sense (fully automatic/submachine), so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun burp gun likely comes from the short, popping noise small automatic guns make. The quick shots sound like someone saying burp, so soldiers started calling the weapon a burp gun, and that's why burp gun now means a small, fully automatic pistol or submachine gun that fires in 'rapid bursts'.