Wiktionary

gun

See also: Gun, gùn, guṅ, gün, Gün, gǔn, and -gun

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war. The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gun (plural guns)

  1. A device for projecting a hard object very forcefully; a firearm or cannon.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect.
    • 2018 February 23, Richard Ayoade, The Last Leg, Season 14, Episode 5:
      Well, I've always been progun, you know that. It's... yeah, I think adding more guns into a situation is obviously the way to prevent shooting. I think in a way, if we take the guns away, the shootings may escalate. And I think that's why he's so firm on literally arming everyone. I think if you don't have a gun in your hands... well, let's not find out what that world would be.
    Guns were considered improvements of crossbows and catapults.
    Looking for wild meat to fill his family's freezer for the winter, the young man quietly raised up his gun at the approaching deer.
    1. A very portable, short firearm, for hand use, which fires bullets or projectiles, such as a handgun, revolver, pistol, or Derringer.
    2. A less portable, long firearm that fires bullets or projectiles; a rifle, either manual, automatic or semi-automatic; a flintlock, musket or shotgun.
    3. (military) A cannon with relatively long barrel, operating with relatively low angle of fire, and having a high muzzle velocity.[1]
    4. (military) A cannon with a 6-inch/155mm minimum nominal bore diameter and tube length 30 calibers or more. See also: howitzer; mortar.[1]
    5. (figurative) A firearm or cannon used for saluting or signalling.21-gun salute
      • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
        It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. […]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
  2. A device operated by a trigger and acting in a manner similar to a firearm.
    1. Any implement designed to fire a projectile from a tube.
      air-pressure pellet gun
      zipgun
      nail gun
    2. A device or tool that projects a substance.
      squirt gun
      spray gun
      grease gun
    3. A device or tool that applies something rather than projecting it.
      a rivet gun
      screw gun
      a price-label gun
      • 2024, David Golinkin, “Is Body Piercing Permitted According To Jewish Law”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 4, page 193:
        The piercing gun cannot be disinfected and therefore there is a risk of transmitting hepatitis and other infections.
  3. (surfing) A long surfboard designed for surfing big waves (not the same as a longboard, a gun has a pointed nose and is generally a little narrower).
    • 2000, Drew Kampion, surfline.com
      by the winter of 1962, the Brewer Surfboards Hawaii gun was the most in-demand big-wave equipment on the North Shore.
  4. (cellular automata) A pattern that "fires" out other patterns.
    • 2000, Gary William Flake, The computational beauty of nature:
      The glider gun on the bottom of the NOT circuit emits a continuous stream of gliders, while the data stream source emits a glider only when there is a value of 1 in the stream […] .
    • 2007 February 23, Frank, “Life on the Edge”, in comp.theory.cell-automata‎[1] (Usenet):
      It would be especially interesting if someone can find an "airplane gun", which generates airplanes at regular intervals.
    • 2010, Andrew Adamatzky, Game of Life Cellular Automata, page 74:
      Greene's period-416 2c/5 spaceship gun
  5. (colloquial, metonymic) A person who carries or uses a gun (rifle, shotgun or handgun), particuarly with reference to how quickly the person can draw and fire the gun.
    Some said that the cowboy was the fastest gun in the West.
    • 1991 12, “Ski”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 256:
      […] we had one lawman - Sheriff Dirty Herwick, "the slowest gun in the West." Dirty was a kindly man, a java addict whose knees knocked at the sight of blood. Back then, we winched our own car wrecks out of ravines and chased away mountain lions with kitchen brooms.
    • (Can we date this quote?), J.R. Roberts, Death in Denver, Speaking Volumes, →ISBN:
      "I must say, I quite enjoy having the best detective in the business, and the fastest gun in the West, on my payroll." "First of all," Clint said tightly, "I'm not the fastest gun in the West, and second, I'm not on your payroll." Royce held up both of his hands. "I didn't mean to offend you, sir […]"
    • (Can we date this quote?), J.R. Roberts, Gundown in Paradise, Speaking Volumes, →ISBN:
      "They say he's the fastest gun in the whole goddamn world." "I thought Blackie was supposed to be the best," Harlow remarked. “That's what all you chaps keep tellin' me." "Blackie is the fastest gun in the Oklahoma Territory," […]
    • 2015 February 26, Neil Hickey, Adventures in the Scribblers Trade: The Most Fun You Can Have, iUniverse, →ISBN:
      They want to take on the fastest gun in town.
    • 2015 August 31, Raymond C. Merriam, Hell’S Partner, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:
      "He's a fast gun out of Arizona."
  6. (television) An electron gun.
    • 2012, Brand Fortner, Theodore E. Meyer, Number by Colors, page 202:
      The problem is figuring out how to get the electrons from the red gun to hit only the red phosphors, the electrons from the blue gun to hit only the blue phosphors, and so on.
  7. (colloquial, usually in the plural) The biceps.
  8. (nautical, in the plural) Violent blasts of wind.
  9. (Australia, slang) Someone excellent, surpassingly wonderful, or cool.
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Sranan Tongo: gon
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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gun (third-person singular simple present guns, present participle gunning, simple past and past participle gunned)

  1. (transitive) To cause to speed up.
    He gunned the engine.
  2. (informal) To offer vigorous support to (a person or cause).
    We're all gunning for you.
  3. (informal) (gunning for something or gunning to do something) make a great effort.
    • 2023, George Ramsay, Amy Woodyatt, “‘Like a chairlift up Everest’: Once running’s supreme challenge, has the value of a four-minute mile diminished?”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎[2], CNN:
      Australian John Landy, one of Bannister’s rivals also gunning to break the four-minute barrier, took more than a second off the Briton’s time in Turku, Finland, a few weeks later.
  4. To seek to attack someone; to take aim at someone; used with for.
    He's been gunning for you ever since you embarrassed him at the party.
  5. To practice fowling or hunting small game; chiefly in participial form: to go gunning.
  6. (ambitransitive, US, prison slang, of a male prisoner) Synonym of gun down (“to masturbate while making sustained eye contact with someone — typically a female prison officer — as a form of intimidation”).
    • 2010, BNA's Employment Discrimination Report:
      […] all inmates participated in such conduct, and […] "the inmates gunned only female staff, not the all-male security staff," he said.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Related to ganef.

Noun

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gun (plural guns)

  1. (obsolete, slang) A magsman or street thief.
    • 1863, Blanchard Jerrold, Signals of Distress in Refuges and Homes of Charity (etc.), page 2:
      To discover […] how the honest poor are compelled to hob-and-nob with the “shoful pitcher” and the “gun,” it is necessary to visit the vast nursery-grounds of crime.
References
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  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

Etymology 3

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From gunna, from gonna, from going to.

Verb

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gun

  1. Nonstandard spelling of going to.
    I'm gun go get my coat from da closet.

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 JP 1-02. Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, 8 November 2010 (As Amended Through 15 March 2012), p.142. (Searchable online version)

Anagrams

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Bissa

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Noun

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gun

  1. night

Cornish

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Noun

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gun f (plural gonyow)

  1. plain

Dongxiang

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Etymology

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From Proto-Mongolic *gün, compare Mongolian гүн (gün).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gun

  1. deep

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gun

  1. inflection of gunnen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Indonesian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɡun/, [ˈɡun]
  • Rhymes: -ɡʊn
  • Hyphenation: gun

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Javanese ꦒꦸꦤ꧀ (gun).

Noun

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gun

  1. loom
    Synonym: serit

Etymology 2

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Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 郡(ぐん) (gun, “county, district”). Romanised according modified Kunrei-shiki romanization.

Noun

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gun

  1. (historical, 1942-1945) Synonym of kewedanaan

Further reading

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Japanese

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Romanization

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gun

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ぐん

Jingpho

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Burmese ကုန် (kun). Cognate with Shan ၵုၼ်ႇ (kùn).

Noun

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gun

  1. goods for sale

References

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  • Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎[3], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Mandarin

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Romanization

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gun

  1. Nonstandard spelling of gǔn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of gùn.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

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Noun

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gun m (genitive singular gunney, plural gunnaghyn)

  1. Alternative form of gunn

Middle English

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Noun

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gun

  1. Alternative form of gunne

Northern Kurdish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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gun m

  1. testicle, ball, bollock, egg, nut, orchis, testis

Scottish Gaelic

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (before a broad consonant or a, o, u) /kən̪ˠ/, (before a slender consonant or e, i) /kəɲ/

Etymology 1

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From Old Irish co.

Alternative forms

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Conjunction

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gun

  1. that
    an t-amadan sin gun do thagh thu ― that fool that you voted for
    am fear gum pòs aig deireadh na mìosa ― the man that will marry at the end of the month
    an taigh gu bheil aice ― the house that she has

Etymology 2

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From Old Irish cen.

Preposition

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gun (+ nominative, triggers lenition except before d, t, n or s)

  1. without
    gun teagamh ― without a doubt
    gun chàr ― without a car
  2. used to negate a verbal noun
    thuirt mi ris gun a dhol a-mach ― I told him not to go out
Synonyms
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Etymology 3

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Conjunction

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gun (triggers lenition)

  1. neither...nor
    • 1911 (Birlinn Limited), Edward Dwelly: The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary:
      Duine gun mhath gun chron, is motha a chron na a mhath. ― A man that's neither good nor ill is more ill than good.

Yoruba

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gùn

  1. to be long (usually along a horizontal axis)
Usage notes
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  • gun before a direct object
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Possibly from Proto-Yoruboid *gwũ̀ (“to ascend”) or Proto-Yoruboid *gũ̀, cognate with Igala gwú (“to climb, to mate”)

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gùn

  1. (intransitive) to climb, to ascend something
  2. to be climbed, to be mounted
  3. (intransitive, transitive) to ride or mount (someone or something)
    ó gun kẹ́tẹ́kẹ́tẹ́ ― She mounted a donkey
  4. (idiomatic, intransitive) to copulate, to mate
    Synonym: dó
  5. (idiomatic) to be possessed; (in particular) to be possessed by the spirit of an orisha
    ó ń hùwà bí ẹni tí Ṣàngó ń gùn ― He is behaving like someone that Sango is possessing
Usage notes
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  • gun before a direct object
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Possibly from Proto-Yoruboid *gwũ̀ (“to sweat”), cognate with Igala gwù (“to sweat”), see *(ò)úgwũ̀ (“sweat”), úgwù (“sweat”), and òógùn (“sweat, perspiration”)

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gùn

  1. (intransitive) to sweat
    Synonym: làágùn
Derived terms
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Etymology 4

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gun

  1. to be angular in shape, to form an angle
Derived terms
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Etymology 5

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Cognates with Itsekiri gún

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gún

  1. to pound
    Jùmọ̀kẹ́ ò kí ń gún iyán dáadáa, ẹ̀bà nìkan ló lè tẹ̀. ― Jumoke doesn't pound yam well, she can only make eba.
Derived terms
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Etymology 6

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gún

  1. to pierce; to jab; to penetrate; to stab
    Dókítà gún mi lábẹ́rẹ́. ― The doctor injected me with a needle.
    Igi gogoro máà gún mi lójú; àtòkèèrè la ti ń wò ó ― So that we may not be poked in the eye by the tall, pointed tree, one must watch it from afar.
Derived terms
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Etymology 7

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gún

  1. to be straight; to straighten
  2. to be well arranged; to be in order
    Àárín tọkọtaya gún régé. ― There is peace between the couple. (literally, “Between the couple is in proper alignment.”)
  3. to shrug one's shoulders
    Mo gún èjìká. ― I shrugged my shoulders.

Etymology 8

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gún

  1. to curse
    Synonym: gégùn-ún
Derived terms
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