round shot
1
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
- During the battle, the soldiers took cover as a round shot flew overhead and crashed into the ground.
Examples
-
Round shot and shells began landing among the Negro soldiers.
Fiction book (1992) -
The crew prepared the artillery to launch a round shot at the approaching ships.
-
A round shot smashed a tree.
Fiction book (1992) -
Austrian guns send round shot crashing through the packed ranks.
-
Austrian guns send round shot crashing through the packed ranks.
-
One nine millimeter round shot at Superman himself.
-
The cannon fired a round shot, striking the enemy's fortifications directly.
Synonyms
98
7.2
A single bullet or shell used in a gun
52
7.2
A large bullet fired from a shotgun
36
6.6
An object thrown or fired through the air, often used as a weapon
18
8.6
A solid round bullet used in old guns
14
4.6
A solid round iron ball fired from a cannon in the past
2
4.1
A heavy round metal ball fired from a cannon in the past
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'round' (spherical/shape) with 'shot' (a projectile or discharged projectile), producing the straightforward compound 'spherical projectile'. This is a literal, compositional formation common across languages and technical registers, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning even if the term is somewhat archaic.
Etymology
The noun round shot comes from old cannons that fired a solid, round ball. The word round shows the ball's shape and shot means 'a thing fired', so together the phrase came to mean a cannonball.