Quaker gun

See also: quaker gun

English

Alternative forms

• quaker gun

Etymology

An allusion to the pacifism associated with practitioners of the Quaker religion.

Pronunciation

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Noun

Quaker gun (plural Quaker guns)

1. (chiefly US, idiomatic, military, weaponry) A nonfunctional imitation of a gun or of a piece of artillery, typically made of wood and usually intended to deceive enemy forces into overestimating one's available firepower.
   • 1843, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 21, in Wyandotte:

     "At all events, your honour, I will carry the quaker in," said Joyce, tossing the stuffed figure on a shoulder. "He do to man the quaker gun at least, and may be of use in frightening some one of the other side."

   • 1861 October 4, “The Great Rebellion”, in New York Times, retrieved 30 Oct. 2011:

     The Quaker gun found there was consigned to the flames to-day, and in its stead heavy artillery, of the genuine sort, commands all the surrounding country.

References

• “Quaker gun”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.