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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Gun \Gun\ (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin;
cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon)
fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E.
mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.]
1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance;
any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles,
consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which
the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such
as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by
various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and
fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are
called {small arms}. Larger guns are called {cannon},
{ordnance}, {fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc.
See these terms in the Vocabulary.
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As swift as a pellet out of a gunne
When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer.
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The word gun was in use in England for an engine to
cast a thing from a man long before there was any
gunpowder found out. --Selden.
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2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
cannon.
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3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
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Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or
manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore},
{breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or
{built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field},
{mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}.
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{Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named
after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.

{Big gun} or {Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence
(Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big
guns to tackle the problem.

{Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.

{Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or
moved.

{Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of
explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping
cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are
formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the
results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It
burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly
and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity.
Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are
insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the
highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and
cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and
somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded
with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for
making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun
cotton is frequenty but improperly called
{nitrocellulose}. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester
of nitric acid.

{Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.

{Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun
is fired.

{Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of
copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is
also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.

{Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a
cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.

{Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the
side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from
the gun port.

{Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two
single blocks and a fall. --Totten.

{Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named
after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.

{Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns,
mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a
reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the
gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier
models, such as the {Gatling gun}, the cartridges were
loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern
versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by
levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the
bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel.
Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such
weapons, with accurate aim. The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner
gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and {Nordenfelt gun}, named for
their inventors, and the French {mitrailleuse}, are
machine guns.

{To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n.,
3.
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field \field\ (f[=e]ld), n. [OE. feld, fild, AS. feld; akin to
D. veld, G. feld, Sw. f[aum]lt, Dan. felt, Icel. fold field
of grass, AS. folde earth, land, ground, OS. folda.]
1. Cleared land; land suitable for tillage or pasture;
cultivated ground; the open country.
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2. A piece of land of considerable size; esp., a piece
inclosed for tillage or pasture.
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Fields which promise corn and wine. --Byron.
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3. A place where a battle is fought; also, the battle itself.
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In this glorious and well-foughten field. --Shak.
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What though the field be lost? --Milton.
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4. An open space; an extent; an expanse. Esp.:
(a) Any blank space or ground on which figures are drawn
or projected.
(b) The space covered by an optical instrument at one
view; as, wide-field binoculars.
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Without covering, save yon field of stars.
--Shak.
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Ask of yonder argent fields above. --Pope.
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5. (Her.) The whole surface of an escutcheon; also, so much
of it is shown unconcealed by the different bearings upon
it. See Illust. of {Fess}, where the field is represented
as gules (red), while the fess is argent (silver).
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6. An unresticted or favorable opportunity for action,
operation, or achievement; province; room.
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Afforded a clear field for moral experiments.
--Macaulay.
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7. (Sports) An open, usually flat, piece of land on which a
sports contest is played; a playing field; as, a football
field; a baseball field.

Syn: playing field, athletic field, playing area.
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8. Specifically: (Baseball) That part of the grounds reserved
for the players which is outside of the diamond; -- called
also {outfield}.
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9. A geographic region (land or sea) which has some notable
feature, activity or valuable resource; as, the diamond
fields of South Africa; an oil field; a gold field; an ice
field.
[WordNet 1.6]

10. A facility having an airstrip where airplanes can take
off and land; an airfield.

Syn: airfield, landing field, flying field, aerodrome.
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11. A collective term for all the competitors in any outdoor
contest or trial, or for all except the favorites in the
betting.
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12. A branch of knowledge or sphere of activity; especially,
a learned or professional discipline; as, she's an expert
in the field of geology; in what field did she get her
doctorate?; they are the top company in the field of
entertainment.

Syn: discipline, subject, subject area, subject field, field
of study, study, branch of knowledge.
[WordNet 1.6]

Note: Within the master text files of this electronic
dictionary, where a word is used in a specific sense in
some specialized field of knowledge, that field is
indicated by the tags: () preceding that sense of the
word.
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13. A location, usually outdoors, away from a studio or
office or library or laboratory, where practical work is
done or data is collected; as, anthropologists do much of
their work in the field; the paleontologist is in the
field collecting specimens. Usually used in the phrase

{in the field}.
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14. (Physics) The influence of a physical object, such as an
electrically charged body, which is capable of exerting
force on objects at a distance; also, the region of space
over which such an influence is effective; as, the
earth's gravitational field; an electrical field; a
magnetic field; a force field.
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15. (Math.) A set of elements within which operations can be
defined analagous to the operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division on the real
numbers; within such a set of elements addition and
multiplication are commutative and associative and
multiplication is distributive over addition and there
are two elements 0 and 1; a commutative division ring;
as, the set of all rational numbers is a field.
[WordNet 1.6]

Note: Field is often used adjectively in the sense of
belonging to, or used in, the fields; especially with
reference to the operations and equipments of an army
during a campaign away from permanent camps and
fortifications. In most cases such use of the word is
sufficiently clear; as, field battery; field
fortification; field gun; field hospital, etc. A field
geologist, naturalist, etc., is one who makes
investigations or collections out of doors. A survey
uses a field book for recording field notes, i.e.,
measurment, observations, etc., made in field work
(outdoor operations). A farmer or planter employs field
hands, and may use a field roller or a field derrick.
Field sports are hunting, fishing, athletic games, etc.
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{Coal field} (Geol.) See under {Coal}.

{Field artillery}, light ordnance mounted on wheels, for the
use of a marching army.

{Field basil} (Bot.), a plant of the Mint family ({Calamintha
Acinos}); -- called also {basil thyme}.

{Field colors} (Mil.), small flags for marking out the
positions for squadrons and battalions; camp colors.

{Field cricket} (Zool.), a large European cricket ({Gryllus
campestric}), remarkable for its loud notes.

{Field day}.
(a) A day in the fields.
(b) (Mil.) A day when troops are taken into the field for
instruction in evolutions. --Farrow.
(c) A day of unusual exertion or display; a gala day.

{Field driver}, in New England, an officer charged with the
driving of stray cattle to the pound.

{Field duck} (Zool.), the little bustard ({Otis tetrax}),
found in Southern Europe.

{Field glass}. (Optics)
(a) A binocular telescope of compact form; a lorgnette; a
race glass.
(b) A small achromatic telescope, from 20 to 24 inches
long, and having 3 to 6 draws.
(c) See {Field lens}.

{Field lark}. (Zool.)
(a) The skylark.
(b) The tree pipit.

{Field lens} (Optics), that one of the two lenses forming the
eyepiece of an astronomical telescope or compound
microscope which is nearer the object glass; -- called
also {field glass}.

{Field madder} (Bot.), a plant ({Sherardia arvensis}) used in
dyeing.

{Field marshal} (Mil.), the highest military rank conferred
in the British and other European armies.

{Field officer} (Mil.), an officer above the rank of captain
and below that of general.

{Field officer's court} (U.S.Army), a court-martial
consisting of one field officer empowered to try all
cases, in time of war, subject to jurisdiction of garrison
and regimental courts. --Farrow.

{Field plover} (Zool.), the black-bellied plover ({Charadrius
squatarola}); also sometimes applied to the Bartramian
sandpiper ({Bartramia longicauda}).

{Field spaniel} (Zool.), a small spaniel used in hunting
small game.

{Field sparrow}. (Zool.)
(a) A small American sparrow ({Spizella pusilla}).
(b) The hedge sparrow. [Eng.]

{Field staff} (Mil.), a staff formerly used by gunners to
hold a lighted match for discharging a gun.

{Field vole} (Zool.), the European meadow mouse.

{Field of ice}, a large body of floating ice; a pack.

{Field}, or {Field of view}, in a telescope or microscope,
the entire space within which objects are seen.

{Field magnet}. see under {Magnet}.

{Magnetic field}. See {Magnetic}.

{To back the field}, or {To bet on the field}. See under
{Back}, v. t. -- {To keep the field}.
(a) (Mil.) To continue a campaign.
(b) To maintain one's ground against all comers.

{To lay against the field} or {To back against the field}, to
bet on (a horse, etc.) against all comers.

{To take the field} (Mil.), to enter upon a campaign.
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Field \Field\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Fielded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Fielding}.]
1. To take the field. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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2. (Ball Playing) To stand out in the field, ready to catch,
stop, or throw the ball.
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Field \Field\, v. t. (Ball Playing)
To catch, stop, throw, etc. (the ball), as a fielder.
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