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Glite Dictionary
on stun

on stun

3 9.1
Set so a device makes a person unable to move without serious harm
  • idiom
  • Specialized
translation icon : en modo aturdido
  • Phasers on stun.
  • phasers on stun
  • set on stun

Examples

  • Phasers on stun.

    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

  • All right, tell them phasers on stun.

    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

  • Phaser on stun at close range.

    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

  • Hawk, Trip, and Lex react like they've just been hit by phasers on stun.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Kirk decides to let this be a demonstration of the Federation's power and tells Scotty to use the ship's phasers on stun for a one-block radius around their present location.

    Blog text (27)

  • The officer ordered his team to keep their weapons on stun to avoid any casualties.

  • During the drill, the soldiers practiced using their rifles on stun to incapacitate targets safely.

  • The captain commanded, "Set your phasers on stun to capture the intruders without harming them."

Antonyms

deadly
543 2.8

Able to cause death or serious harm

lethal
193 4.8

Able to cause death, for example by a weapon or poison

How Lethal

lethal
193 4.8
on stun
  • Specialized
3 9.1
off
8 1.0

Surface Forms

on stun main

Morphology

on + stun

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'on' (indicating an active/powered state or setting) with 'stun' (to cause temporary unconsciousness); it literally signals that a device is set to a stun mode. This follows common English device-mode patterns (e.g. 'on silent', 'on standby') and is compositional and cross-linguistically plausible, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely understand it.

Etymology

On stun comes from weapons and devices that make a person temporarily unable to move — to be 'stunned'. If a weapon is set on stun, it is set to stop or hold someone without causing serious injury or death, so the phrase means 'set to a non-lethal mode'.