water cannon
7
3.9
- noun
- /ˈwɔːtər ˈkænən/
:
cañón de agua
- Security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons to hold off the rioters.
- water cannons and tear gas
- water cannons and tear
- use of water cannon
And then behind that, water, water cannons, you see.
- And then behind that, water, water cannons, you see.
Examples
-
Police used harsh tactics such as water cannons and tear gas to break up demonstrations.
Academic text (2004) -
Water cannons were brought out.
-
Chilean police turned violent, spraying the young protesters with tear gas and water cannons.
Blog text (20) -
Around 4:00 PM, the police pursued a large number of protesters into the St. Jean-Baptiste neighborhood, firing both tear gas and water cannons at them.
Academic text (2001) -
Two men on a fireboat operate a water cannon, dousing the smoldering remains of a burned-out ship's hull.
Fiction book (1996) -
The police deployed a water cannon to disperse the crowd peacefully during the protest.
-
After the protest escalated, officers used a water cannon to push back the rioters.
-
During the demonstration, the authorities resorted to a water cannon to control the situation.
Synonyms
A machine on a vehicle that shoots a strong water jet to break up crowds
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a machine that shoots water at high pressure' is directly and compositionally derived from 'water' (the liquid) + 'cannon' (a device that fires projectiles): essentially a cannon that fires water. This modifier–noun combination is conceptually transparent and has clear cross-linguistic counterparts, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The compound noun water cannon comes from the image of a large cannon that fires strong jets of water, like a weapon. Because these machines were used to 'push people back', the name now means a powerful device police use to disperse crowds.