Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
gun
3 reference results for: Gun
Columbia Encyclopedia
gun, in general, any weapon that discharges shot, shells, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder or some other explosive from a straight tube. See firearm; artillery; small arms.
Wikipedia

A gun is any of several types of object that propels another object or projectile. The projectile is generally fired through a hollow tube known as the gun's barrel. The barrel's diameter, or caliber, determines the size of projectile used, which is usually designated in fractions of an inch or in millimeters. Differing from the musket, most modern guns are rifled, with a series of grooves spiraling along the barrel; exceptions include smoothbores on tanks, AFVs and some artillery.

Terminology

The term "gun" is often used synonymously with "firearm," but this is common only for civilian usage. In military usage, the term "gun" refers to heavy and light artillery that fires projectiles at high velocity, such as naval guns (which are never referred to as cannons) or tank guns. By military terms, mortars and all hand-held firearms are excluded from the definition of guns. Two exceptions to this include: the shotgun, which is a smoothbore hand-held gun that fires a load of shot or a single projectile known as a slug, and the machine gun, which is a fully-automatic weapon mounted on a tripod or bipod and is almost always operated by a crew.

The word "gun" is also applied to some more or less vaguely gun-like or gun-shaped tools such as staple guns, nail guns, and glue guns.

In a gun-type fission weapon the "gun" is part of a nuclear weapon. The projectile is fissile material that is fired and captured inside the device. In the case of nuclear artillery, it should not be confused with the gun that fires the whole warhead. In a captive bolt gun the projectile is also caught within the mechanism. Such captive piston guns are often used to humanely stun farm animals for slaughter.

A gunner is a member of the team charged with the task of operating and firing a gun.

History and technology

Types of guns

Military and sporting guns

Guns for training and entertainment

Politics and society

See also

References

External links

Wikipedia
A gun is an object that propels another object through a hollow tube.

Gun may also refer to:

In modern culture

In music

Places

Other usage

See also

Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com