gun
4
4.4
- noun
- /ɡʌn/
- They hear Spanish signal guns in the fog and know the enemy is close.
- jump the gun
- a gun salute
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Watch on YouTubeWhich is when the cry broke across the rippling grass and the gun, the guns went off.
- Which is when the cry broke across the rippling grass and the gun, the guns went off.
- And then the, you know, the the flag drops or the gun goes off and they start running right?
- You've talked about your friend who got shot as being the starting gun to your life, but I could never quite figure out why.
- In addition, I think this is a starting gun.
Examples
-
As the race began, the starter fired the gun to signal the runners to start.
-
Which is when the cry broke across the rippling grass and the gun, the guns went off.
-
Robert, they just fired a starting gun.
-
In most urban areas, gun shows occur less than once a month.
Academic text (2010) -
Then, as if a starter's gun had sounded, everyone swims like hell for the pier.
Fiction book (1991) -
The soldiers stood at attention as the gun fired a 21-gun salute in honor of the fallen hero.
-
Before the ceremony commenced, a single gun shot rang out to signify the start of the event.
Synonyms
319
2.3
An event when someone shoots a gun and a bullet leaves the gun
238
2.3
Firing a gun for practice or sport
155
2.5
The sound or act of shooting guns
138
3.0
The act of shooting a gun
16
6.0
An act of shooting a gun or rifle
6
5.5
A single shot made when a gun or weapon fires
3
3.7
A gun fired to mark the start of a race
2
3.7
A single firing of a rifle that makes a loud sound
1
9.9
A gun fired once every minute to honor people at a funeral
Idioms
- Offensive
1
9.9
To say you want to kill yourself to show you feel very desperate, often offensive
- NSFW
To say as a joke that you will kill yourself because you feel very frustrated
Compounds
29
5.0
A small device that gives a short electric shock to stop a person moving for a short time
6
3.2
A gun that shoots small paint-filled balls used in a game where players mark each other
- Archaic
5
8.2
A short, powerful automatic gun used by soldiers and criminals in the early 1900s
- Specialized
4
6.3
A part of a ship, plane, or vehicle that holds guns and turns to aim them
- Specialized
2
6.5
A device that fires small gas containers like tear gas to make crowds move away
- Specialized
2
8.3
A protected place built where a gun is placed and fired, often for defense
- Specialized
2
8.1
A rifle used by soldiers that can fire many shots quickly and has a large magazine
- Specialized
1
6.3
A device that makes and focuses a thin beam of electrons in a television or microscope
- Archaic
1
9.4
A room on a warship where junior officers sleep, study and sometimes keep guns
- Specialized
1
6.8
A large movable weapon soldiers use on the battlefield to fire at enemy troops
- Archaic
1
6.4
A belt-fed machine gun used by US forces in World War II and the Korean War
1
6.9
A device that shoots a long pointed spear to catch large sea animals like whales or fish
1
8.1
A .45-caliber automatic gun used by soldiers, police, and gangsters in the 20th century
- Archaic
1
8.1
An armored vehicle with a large gun on a tank body that supports soldiers and fights tanks
- NSFW
1
9.2
A hidden device set to shoot as a trap when someone touches or moves something near it
- Archaic
A suspended gun that measures bullet speed from its backward swing when fired
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gun for the signal comes from the loud sound a firearm makes when it is fired, so the 'gun' can be the shot that tells people to 'start' or to give a salute. That's why in races or ceremonies the 'gun' is the noisy starting or salute sound.