Bren gun

American

[bren] / brɛn /

Or bren gun

noun

a .303-caliber, gas-operated, air-cooled, clip-fed submachine gun.

Bren gun British

/ brɛn /

noun

an air-cooled gas-operated light machine gun taking .303 calibre ammunition: used by British and Commonwealth forces in World War II

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Bren gun

1935–40; Br(no) , Moravia + En ( field ), England, towns of manufacture

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Bren gun

Streets in Tel-Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and other towns bristled with Bren gun carriers and road blocks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Among his "birthday presents": planes from South America, tanks from B.W.I., tanks and Bren gun carriers from The Netherlands Indies.

From Time Magazine Archive

But two and a half years later, with Canada at war, the Winnipeg Free Press broke the story that the old Bren gun contract had been canceled and relet on a management-fee basis.

From Time Magazine Archive

I went with a captain called Peter in his Bren gun carrier.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mr. Downing shot out orders, threats, and penalties with the rapidity of a Bren gun.

From Mike and Psmith by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023