英文字典中文字典Word104.com

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.
[1913 Webster]

As swift as a pellet out of a gunne
When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]

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.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
cannon.
[1913 Webster]

3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
[1913 Webster]

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}.
[1913 Webster]

{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.
[1913 Webster PJC]


Prairie \Prai"rie\, n. [F., an extensive meadow, OF. praerie,
LL. prataria, fr. L. pratum a meadow.]
1. An extensive tract of level or rolling land, destitute of
trees, covered with coarse grass, and usually
characterized by a deep, fertile soil. They abound
throughout the Mississippi valley, between the Alleghanies
and the Rocky mountains.
[1913 Webster]

From the forests and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the northland. --Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]

2. A meadow or tract of grass; especially, a so called
natural meadow.
[1913 Webster]

{Prairie chicken} (Zool.), any American grouse of the genus
{Tympanuchus}, especially {Tympanuchus Americanus}
(formerly {Tympanuchus cupido}), which inhabits the
prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the
sharp-tailed grouse.

{Prairie clover} (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus
{Petalostemon}, having small rosy or white flowers in
dense terminal heads or spikes. Several species occur in
the prairies of the United States.

{Prairie dock} (Bot.), a coarse composite plant ({Silphium
terebinthaceum}) with large rough leaves and yellow
flowers, found in the Western prairies.

{Prairie dog} (Zool.), a small American rodent ({Cynomys
Ludovicianus}) allied to the marmots. It inhabits the
plains west of the Mississippi. The prairie dogs burrow in
the ground in large warrens, and have a sharp bark like
that of a dog. Called also {prairie marmot}.

{Prairie grouse}. Same as {Prairie chicken}, above.

{Prairie hare} (Zool.), a large long-eared Western hare
({Lepus campestris}). See {Jack rabbit}, under 2d {Jack}.


{Prairie hawk}, {Prairie falcon} (Zool.), a falcon of Western
North America ({Falco Mexicanus}). The upper parts are
brown. The tail has transverse bands of white; the under
parts, longitudinal streaks and spots of brown.

{Prairie hen}. (Zool.) Same as {Prairie chicken}, above.

{Prairie itch} (Med.), an affection of the skin attended with
intense itching, which is observed in the Northern and
Western United States; -- also called {swamp itch},
{winter itch}.

{Prairie marmot}. (Zool.) Same as {Prairie dog}, above.

{Prairie mole} (Zool.), a large American mole ({Scalops
argentatus}), native of the Western prairies.

{Prairie pigeon}, {Prairie plover}, or {Prairie snipe}
(Zool.), the upland plover. See {Plover}, n., 2.

{Prairie rattlesnake} (Zool.), the massasauga.

{Prairie snake} (Zool.), a large harmless American snake
({Masticophis flavigularis}). It is pale yellow, tinged
with brown above.

{Prairie squirrel} (Zool.), any American ground squirrel of
the genus {Spermophilus}, inhabiting prairies; -- called
also {gopher}.

{Prairie turnip} (Bot.), the edible turnip-shaped farinaceous
root of a leguminous plant ({Psoralea esculenta}) of the
Upper Missouri region; also, the plant itself. Called also
{pomme blanche}, and {pomme de prairie}.

{Prairie warbler} (Zool.), a bright-colored American warbler
({Dendroica discolor}). The back is olive yellow, with a
group of reddish spots in the middle; the under parts and
the parts around the eyes are bright yellow; the sides of
the throat and spots along the sides, black; three outer
tail feathers partly white.

{Prairie wolf}. (Zool.) See {Coyote}.
[1913 Webster]