long tom
- noun
- Archaic
:
cañón largo
- During the battle, the crew loaded the long tom and fired at the enemy frigate.
Examples
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A single long tom dominated the forward deck, giving the vessel considerable range.
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The ship was armed with a massive long tom for protection against privateers.
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Look at that long tom!
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The ship was equipped with a powerful long tom.
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During the battle, the crew loaded the long tom and fired at the enemy frigate.
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The ship was armed with a massive long tom for protection against privateers.
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A single long tom dominated the forward deck, giving the vessel considerable range.
Synonyms
103
3.9
A large heavy gun often on wheels or ships that fires heavy shells
An old long-barrelled cannon used in wars in the 1500s and 1600s
A large gun on a navy ship used to fire at enemy ships or planes
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
long + tom
Although 'long' is transparent, the element 'tom' is not a common noun meaning 'gun' (and is listed as not found), so a B1 learner who knows the parts would not be able to infer 'a long-barrelled swivel cannon.' The term is a lexicalized historical/nautical name for a specific weapon rather than a compositional description, making its meaning unpredictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Long tom comes from old ships' guns: long points to the long barrel that could shoot far, and tom was a common name for a cannon, so the phrase came to mean 'a long, mounted cannon used on ships'.