Woolworth gun
- noun
- Archaic
:
pistola de Woolworth
- As a boy, he loved running around the garden with his Woolworth gun pretending to be a cowboy.
Examples
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She discovered an old Woolworth gun in her attic while sorting through childhood toys.
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The Woolworth gun was a popular choice among children in the 1950s and 60s.
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I bought a Woolworth gun at the store.
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The children played with their Woolworth guns all afternoon.
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As a boy, he loved running around the garden with his Woolworth gun pretending to be a cowboy.
-
The Woolworth gun was a popular choice among children in the 1950s and 60s.
-
The children played with their Woolworth guns all afternoon.
Synonyms
9
1.0
A toy that sprays water for children to play with
4
1.3
A small toy that sprays water for play
A toy pistol or rifle that shoots corks
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: Woolworth (a low-cost variety store) + gun (a type of firearm) yields a gun associated with Woolworth’s — i.e., an inexpensive or toy gun sold by that retailer. This provenance-and-quality reading follows common noun-compounding patterns and is predictable to a learner who knows both constituents and the store’s low-cost nature.
Etymology
Woolworth gun comes from the Woolworth stores that sold very cheap toy guns to children. Because the name Woolworth was known for low prices, Woolworth gun came to mean a 'cheap' 'toy' gun.